Fate's Calling
by Undone-and-unlocked
Summary: Life is a game, a dangerous game as all ninjas know it. But what happens when a playful tournament against the guys turns into a life or death situation? Can bonds survive when your friends may not? HinataxSasuke TentenxNeji SuzuOCxKiba
1. Teamwork: Males vs Females

Hello everyone. This is my first fanfic so I really hope that you all like it. . I got my friend halfdemon-kai to type it up for me, so if there are any spelling errors, then you can blame her for it. . Lol. Please enjoy!

**Fate's Calling**

**Teamwork: Males vs. Females**

Hinata walked quietly through the forest. It was a clear crisp morning. Hinata loved the morning, especially days like this. She loved it. Yet, many of the other females on her team weren't thrilled at all. Both the teams had been forced to stay out in the forest all night. This was due to the fact that neither the girls' team nor the guys' team had managed to steal each others flag yet. Hinata and her friends were excited and thrilled at the idea of this fun challenge, but the many other girls that had to take the challenge complained, and complained… and complained. It was clear to Hinata that the idea of sleeping outside and the bugs didn't thrill them.

Hinata quickly forced her chakra to her eyes and called upon her byakugan when hearing a sound off to the side. She quickly dismissed her talented eyes however when Tenten, one of her most trusted friends, the weapons mistress stepped out to greet her.

"Hey there Hinata," Tenten said cheerfully while trotting up to her, "did you sleep well?"

Hinata nodded and smiled at her friend.

"It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," she said quietly but happily.

Tenten nodded in approval at her friend's positive attitude.

"Well I'm glad you slept well," Tenten mumbled and her shoulders slumped, "I was kept up all night by those girly crybabies!" Tenten finished with a slight scowl on her face and she crossed her arms.

Hinata gave her friend a sympathetic smile and pat on the back. Tenten returned the smile and looked around she spoke a moment later.

"Well I guess we shouldn't stand out in the open like this," she laughed.

Hinata nodded at her friend's thinking and started off, Tenten right behind. Then after a few minutes of stealth, they settled into a large tree comfortably. Tenten was the first to speak.

"See anything?" she asked Hinata, for Hinata had her_ 'all-seeing'_ eyes activated for extra safety.

"Nothing that I can see," she murmured while continuing to look around.

Tenten started to rise, but Hinata halted her with a sudden word.

"Wait," Hinata said to the weapons mistress and Tenten quickly settles back down beside her friend.

"What is it?" Tenten asked hastily, eager for action.

Hinata squinted harder at the weird sight in the distance. Noticing Hinata's perplexed facial expression, Tenten asked the question again while poking her friend slightly.

"Hinata, what do you see?" she asked excitedly.

This time she got a reply.

"I-I'm not sure," the blue haired girl answered, but realizing this wasn't a satisfactory answer, she continued, "There's a lot going on there," she said while turning to meet her friend's gaze, "I-I think I just saw a llama… Naruto is there too," she said and smiled slightly.

Tenten smirked when seeing Hinata's small smile, she quickly hid it though because she didn't want her friend to feel uncomfortable. She continued her train of thought until it came to the weird part of Hinata's words.

"… A llama?" Tenten asked her friend with an incredulous expression.

Tenten stood up and glanced off into the distance while speaking.

"So I guess we should check it out," she said with a final tone that told Hinata that she was going to see what the commotion was about, and possibly settle it.

Hinata rose to her feet and was about to take off in that direction, but Tenten halted her by resting a hand on the shy girl's shoulder.

"Don't forget Hinata," Tenten started, "Naruto is on the other team, so if you get the chance… rip off his flag," she said while patting the blue cloth of her own flag that was at her waist.

Hinata nodded to her friend and lowered her gaze. Of course that was the whole point of the game, steal your opponent's flag. That makes them captured and basically useless to the team. The fewer challengers, the easier it is to steal the team flag of the opposite team. The teams were evenly matched though, and neither team had had their flag stolen yet.

Though truthfully Hinata was nervous. Sakura had informed her no too long ago that many on the other team were searching for the shy byakugan user. Hinata was the warning bell for the females' team. Without Hinata's eyes, there was no one to warn her teammates if someone was close to the flag. Likewise, Neji was the alarm system for the males' team, and certainly none of Hinata's team wanted to venture near him, except perhaps Tenten. Hinata had no doubt that he wouldn't attack Tenten. They had been teammates for years now and Tenten was really the only person Neji tolerated, even respected.

Hinata quickly picked up her pace for she realized she was falling behind the weapon mistress. After a few uneventful moments of running swiftly and quietly, the pair of females slowed their pace as they neared the appointed spot.

With great stealth, they crawled into the bushes and watched the scenario before them. They both jumped slightly when someone, a female, cried out.

"Earth style, llama pursuit jutsu!"

And before they could comprehend what had just happened, a big fluffy llama ran across their line of vision. They both watched wide eyes and shocked as the llama chased Naruto up a tree.

"Hey you stupid llama!" Naruto yelled while shaking his fist, "stop trying to eat my flag!"

When the llama finally gave up on trying to climb Naruto's tree, it slowly waded over to a bush – Tenten and Hinata's bush – and started munching. Hinata giggled quietly and shifted slightly so the llama wouldn't chew her hair, even going so far as to pat the beast's nose. She turned to Tenten and noticed the dark expression on her face.

"Um, T-Tenten, what's wro…?" but she was cut off by Tenten's words.

"I **_HATE _**llamas!" she cried and she pulled out a shuriken and chucked the weapon an inch about the terrified animal's head.

"Scram!" she cried, angry and annoyed and the horrified llama leaped away, back in the direction it came.

Tenten turned back to her.

"Well that was annoying," Tenten said turning to Hinata.

Hinata smiled, but her expression quickly faded when she noticed the silhouette of a person behind her friend, and she cried out loud.

"Tenten look out!" Hinata yelled (well tried to yell, for her voice was rather soft) and she dug her feet into the ground and sprung up out of the bush to protect her vulnerable friend's back.

To her credit, her body interrupted her attacker and she quickly moved into action to block the half-hearted kick at her opponents face and gasped as she looked upon the face of Sasuke Uchiha. Their eyes met for a moment but he quickly went back to the task at hand as he reached for her flag, her life in the game. Because of simple panic, she forced her chakra into a steady flow to her feet and used Sasuke to push off. Sasuke landed and sprung lightning fast at her but his attempt was in vain because suddenly a barrage of shuriken and kunai were sent flying at him. He had to retreat a couple of steps.

Hinata landed safely, with her flag still at her his. She glanced gratefully at Tenten who in return, gave her a thankful nod. Sasuke, realizing it would be hard pressed against a short range melee fighter, and a long ranged weapon master, called out…

"Hey Naruto," Sasuke said lazily, "Why don't you come down from that tree of yours and make yourself useful instead of hiding?" Sasuke inquired as he put his hands into his pockets and waited.

Naruto stuck his tongue out at Sasuke and glared.

"Well maybe I don't wanna help you!" Naruto said while sticking an accusing finger in Sasuke's direction.

"Besides you would just get in my way, like always," Naruto said in exasperation as he waved his arms around.

"Well I suggest you get over it you idiot, or you can just say goodbye to that ramen Iruka sensei promised to buy the **_winning team_**," Sasuke said as he absentmindedly kicked the leaves on the ground.

Naruto's eye twitched at Sasuke's words. He would do anything for ramen.

"Alright, alright," Naruto yelled as he turned around from his back-to-Sasuke position, "but don't think this changes anything!"

Through the whole argument, Hinata and Tenten watched and listened incredulously. The two of them could have just walked away and the two guys wouldn't have even noticed. Well, Naruto wouldn't have noticed…

Happy to have some backup now, Sasuke came on confidently and strong. Using his fast movement, Sasuke leaped over Hinata and ran straight at Tenten. But the weapon mistress yanked on a string from the previous confrontation and sent a shuriken at Sasuke. He quickly deflected it though, with his own weapon and continued on, moving swiftly. Gritting her teeth, Tenten pulled out a senbon and held it at the ready. He moved closer and Tenten pretended to drop the senbon accidentally at her feet. Bending down quickly, she fumbled with the senbon at her feet and glanced up suddenly with wide eyes as Sasuke crashed headlong into her. Quickly he snapped out his arm and yanked Tenten's flag from her waist. He smirked in triumph as he quickly leaped away, but as he did so, his eyes narrowed as Tenten's body transformed into a shuriken and hurled it self at him. He was hard pressed at the moment. He was so busy trying to dodge the counter-attacking shuriken that he couldn't tell where the weapons mistress was. Obviously the shuriken was being controlled by the skilled ninja.

"Naruto, you idiot, come out and fight!" Sasuke shouted as the crazed shuriken nearly missed his foot.

On cue, another shuriken crashed through the forest and intersected the first one. Naruto then landed a few steps away from Sasuke.

"'Bout time," Sasuke mumbled as he watched the flag in his hand turn into a scrap of paper. He slowly opened it and his eye twitched when he read it.

It read:

_Haha – signed Tenten_

Beside him, Naruto burst out laughing.

"She almost cut your head off!" Naruto laughed loudly while holding his stomach.

"If you don't shut up Naruto, I'm going to cut **_YOUR _**head off," Sasuke threatened while glancing around to locate the females.

But Naruto saw it was an empty threat and kept his laughing going.

"You just got your butt kicked by a girl!"

"Naruto," Sasuke cut him off suddenly, "where is Hinata?" he said this while turning threateningly to Naruto.

Naruto stopped his laughing suddenly and put his fist under his chin to think.

"You lost her?!" Sasuke shouted and he took a threatening step toward the blond.

"Well I would have got her if you hadn't been so lame in your battle with Tenten. I had to run all the way back to save you!" Naruto said in his squeaky voice as he pointed at the now still shuriken – Tenten's shuriken – lying on the ground.

Sasuke was about to retort but an annoyed and frustrated voice of Tenten suddenly cut him off.

"Hey you two," Tenten said from somewhere in the trees, "why don't you both stop your argument and work together, because we are going to show you what real teamwork looks like!" Tenten yelled with confidence.

A moment later Hinata, with her byakugan activated ran headlong at the two with super fast movements. Naruto took a couple steps back at seeing the swift and agile female ninja.

Sasuke was also surprised. It had been some time since he had seen a ninja move so fast. Hinata had become a lot stronger he realized, and perhaps a bit less nervous.

"Naruto!" he called quickly before Hinata was upon him, "Go after Tenten!" and before Naruto could retort, Sasuke flung himself at Hinata, eager to see how much strong the blue haired ninja had become.

Sasuke watched from the corner of his eye as Naruto disappeared into the forest and he secretly thanked him for not arguing this time. He knocked away a palm heel strike that Hinata sent at him and returned the strike with a deceptive low kick. But Hinata leaped over the kick in an instant and landed a safe distance away.

"You have gotten stronger I've noticed," the Uchiha said seriously before coming in hard.

He went into a flurry of motion, kicking and punching at the same time. But Hinata ducked or leaped over the kicks and met his punches with blocks. Each continued to make random grabs at the other flag when the opportunity presented itself but neither managed a firm hold.

Tenten watched the duel from her safe spot in the tree nearby. She was seriously shocked by the progress her friend had made in her fighting skills. She could keep up with Sasuke's movements! Tenten watched in awe at the sheer speed of their fight. Pulling out a kunai, she watched and thought. She didn't know if Hinata would need help, but she quickly held her kunai at the ready if the opportunity was to present itself. The brunette realized her chance when she saw Hinata trip slightly due to the uneven ground behind her and the weapon mistress wasted no time in flinging her kunai to Hinata's aid.

Sasuke went in for the final grab for the female ninja's flag but scowled and dove to the side when a kunai was flung from the trees. Hinata quickly stood up.

"Good aim she has," Sasuke said with a smirk as she glanced at the ground where the kunai was sticking out, right where he had been standing seconds ago.

At his words, Hinata just smiled and nodded.

**End of Chapter 1**

Well that's that chapter. . I really apologize for any mistakes halfdemon-kai made in typing this. Lol. Corrections will be made, but I'm not sure when. Lol. Hope you enjoyed my first chapter. . Please R&R and I hope that halfdemon-kai will update the second chapter soon.


	2. Enter Suzu!

Hey again everyone! This is my second chapter in two days. I know it's not taking long for it to get posted, but the next chapter probably will, since halfdemon-kai has her own fanfics to write and not just to type up my own. . I thank her for it though. Thank you all to those who reviewed and read. Lol. I once again apologize for any mistakes halfdemon-kai makes in typing this. . Please enjoy!

**Enter Suzu!**

The battle continued like this for many minutes, Sasuke often got the upper hand on Hinata just to be forced back by the constantly flying shuriken that he always had to dodge.

'_Where the hell is Naruto?' _Sasuke kept asking himself. Wasn't he supposed to be dealing with Tenten? He couldn't deny it now, he needed Naruto. He simply just couldn't fight the two powerful females on his own. He gritted his teeth as Hinata almost got a hold on his flag. He was frustrated now. She almost got her hands on his flag countless times. She was becoming familiar to his fighting style now he realized wide eyed. He needed to think of something she wouldn't expect he though while eyeing the small ninja. He quickly batted aside a poke she was sending to his shoulder and dug his feet into the ground and flung himself at her, even though she was only an arms distance away. She tried to brace herself and hold her ground but the Uchiha was bigger and weighed more and so they both crashed to the ground. Hinata tried to get up but she found that the Uchiha was sitting on her, so she lay there with a puzzled look on her face.

Sasuke nodded and smirked in triumph. But it quickly faded and turned into a look of surprise when a shuriken was flung at him from the trees, so he quickly ducked. Hinata made a surprised noise whether Uchiha's face came only inches apart from hers, the result of his duck. She blushed madly and looked away.

The next shuriken came at Sasuke, and the next and the next, and five more after that, each time trying to get Sasuke to move away from Hinata. Sasuke ducked and knocked some of the shuriken away. It was obvious Tenten didn't like the idea of her friend being captured, although Sasuke hadn't taken Hinata's flag yet. The steady flow of kunai, shuriken, and senbon continued to fly at him and he glanced around wildly to try to locate the brunette. Growing frustrated at his lack of options, he tried a grab for the flag at the pinned girl's waist but she quickly moved her hand to block him. He gave her a strange sympathetic look then, almost saying…

'_What are you going to do? You are so stuck!' _

Once again, another kunai was flung at him and he batted it away without almost a thought. A plan was formulating in his mind. Quickly, he whipped out a kunai and brought it to Hinata's neck. He smirked when he saw the expression on the small girl's face, shocked and nervous.

Quite quickly, the flow of senbon, kunai, and shuriken stopped. Sasuke laughed at his brilliance. Of course the weapon mistress herself would stop if her friend's life was on the line. They all knew this was a game, a dangerous game, but a game nonetheless. It was a game based on the real way ninjas were. And the ninja who had an important hostage, made the rules.

He reached for Hinata's flag with no interference of weapons this time. Hinata bit her lip and tried to shift slightly as he yanked her flag from her waist. He smirked as he got up from his sitting position and she gave a polite smile to him, possibly to tell him she accepted her defeat. He gave a small nod back. He took off just then in Tenten's direction, for it was around then, that Hinata could not stop him.

Tenten scowled as the Uchiha started her way. How did he know where she was? She quickly dismissed the question however, realizing that it didn't matter now. She almost wondered if she could quickly dash away and leave him behind, but she quickly realized that he would most likely catch her within a few minutes. She stopped her mind suddenly when she heard familiar words reach her ears.

"Earth style, llama pursuit jutsu!" a female's voice called out.

And to her annoyed relief, a llama – the same llama as before – plotted heavily in Sasuke's direction. He stopped his chase of Tenten quickly when seeing a llama following him. And while he was distracted by the new turn of events, Tenten quickly took her exit with swift silence.

Now the Uchiha was really lost for words as the llama came rushing at him. Would he have to end up hurting the beast to get it to stop chasing him? Would he really have o sink so low? The llama charged at him and when it closed in, he pushed the beast's nose away so the llama wouldn't eat his flag. He wondered what he was going to do when suddenly a girl appeared a short distance away. She gave a short whistle and the llama turned away from Sasuke and waded over to her. After giving the llama a pat, she turned to Sasuke.

"Hey," she started, suddenly, "are you the one who scared my llama half to death?"

When seeing his blank stare, she turned to her llama.

"Is he the one?" she asked the fuzzy animal.

The beast turned to him then back to her and stomped its foot.

"He isn't?" she asked the llama and it stomped its foot again.

"Alright, my llama says it wasn't you that frightened it," the girl said as she shrugged her shoulders, "But still, I can't let you go," she stated as she glanced him in the eye and for a moment, a flash of red could have been seen.

He tried to dash away, he needed time to rest but she had already finished her hand sign and she cried out.

"Ice style, ice spear jutsu!"

Sasuke looked over his shoulder wider eyed then spun around when he was forced to look upon the sight behind him.

Above her head, one thousand shards of ice waited for her command with pure stillness.

"So…" she began again, "feel like handing over Hinata's flag or am I going to have to impale you?"

Sasuke quickly put his hand on Hinata's flag tied around his waist. No way he was giving her this flag. He had worked hard for it.

He whipped out a kunai and his expression told her that he was not going to comply with her. She gave him an admiring glance and spoke again.

"I admire your will power," she stated briefly and then continued, "Let's see if you are strong enough to lead the Uchiha clan."

His eyes narrowed at her words. What did she mean? What right did she have to say that? But before he could consider the though further, the female ninja brought her hand up to start her command, so he braced himself.

"Show me your power," she whispered and then she snapped her fingers and pointed at the Uchiha clan's leader.

Tenten watched the whole scene from the trees. She felt safe at last. One of her most powerful friends had come to her aid.

"Go Suzu!" Tenten called from the trees, but she quickly quieted when realizing that he outbursts had been what got her and Hinata located in the first place.

So instead, she stayed quiet and watched. She watched as Suzu dismissed her llama (the one she had scared half to death) and called upon her brilliant shards of ice. Tenten stared in awe as she watched the scene before he unfold. The shard of ice matched the ice blue colour of Suzu's hair perfectly… **Perfectly!**

She watched Suzu click her fingers and point at Sasuke and she almost cried out in protest but ended up biting her lip hard instead. She had no idea what jutsu Suzu was using, but she had a fairly good idea of what was coming next. Could Sasuke really handle one thousand shards of ice aimed at him? She could only wait and see.

Likewise, Hinata was also watching from her hiding spot nearby. She felt a twinge of fear for Sasuke when she gazed upon the many shards of ice. What would happen if Sasuke was severely hurt? She shifted uncomfortably in her hiding spot and flinched as her friend Suzu raised her hand in preparation for the upcoming attack. She knew Suzu as a great friend, but Suzu had no love for guys. Hinata silently wondered if that would ever change. The shy girl put her hands together in stress and activated her byakugan so she could see better. She watched Suzu whispered something almost to herself and suddenly many of the shards of ice flung themselves at Sasuke. Hinata gasped when she watched Sasuke snap his arms out in different directions, at a speed she had never witnessed before. Steadily, the many remaining shards of ice continued their fast movement at Sasuke, but he continued his deflections with quick dodges and swift footwork.

Hinata stared wide eyed at Sasuke as he continued his lightning fast movements. He moved so swiftly and cunningly and she continued to watch in wonder and envy.

After a few moments, the flow of ice shards decreased and eventually stopped. Hinata sighed in relief and quickly unclenched her hands, which had turned white from the strain. She slumped down the side of the tree when finally the exhaustion created from worry had passed.

Sasuke panted heavily from the tiring work he had just received.

'_What a powerful jutsu.' _He thought as his legs shook from the strain of such quick movement he had been forced to accelerate to…

He glanced up at the ice haired ninja, and he noticed she had her hand cupped thoughtfully under her chin. The Uchiha also noticed the less relaxed position of her feet.

'_Hn, so the jutsu drained her of a lot of her chakra.' _He thought as he forced his own quivering legs to relax.

"So, you have proven your power," she stated flatly and he was surprised when she gave him a respectful bow.

"What is going on here?" Sasuke was quick to ask but he was suddenly taken off guard by the ice haired girl's wide grin that spread across her face.

He was about to ask her another question but a kunai landed sharply at the end of his foot. So, with one more last glance at the ice ninja, he dashed away from the danger.

After the Uchiha's exit, Tenten trotted up to Suzu. Suzu turned her golden eyes onto Tenten and gave her friend a playful smile.

"What did you think?" Suzu asked as she glanced back at the puddle that was formulating from all the melting ice shards.

Tenten looked back at her friend for a moment.

"You knew I was watching?" Tenten asked as she moved in front of her friend slightly so that Suzu would look her in the eye.

"Of course I knew," Suzu stated simply while closing her eyes for a moment.

Then she continued, "I'm always watching," she smiled and gave Tenten a brief nod.

"I can't let you two go out on your own. You two would get in too much trouble," she said cheerfully, "Besides, you two can't seem to make decisions without me!" she said while pointing at herself and laughing.

Tenten smiled sheepishly before speaking again.

"That was some jutsu you pulled off," Tenten said wide-eyed, "I've never seen it before. How long ago did you learn it?" she asked.

"Yesterday," said Suzu, not really taking care to explain.

"No way," Tenten screeched loudly and Suzu put a hand over the brown eyed girl's mouth to silence her.

"Shh Tenten," Suzu said quietly while shaking her head, "Not so loud my friend," she stated.

Tenten nodded and continued more quietly this time.

"How did you master it so perfectly in just one day?" Tenten asked while quirking an eyebrow.

At Tenten's question, a wide smile once again found its way to Suzu's face.

"Have you forgotten Tenten?" Suzu asked a she backed into the shade of a nearby tree.

Tenten's deep brown eyes widened slightly when she watched her friend's eyes change from their normal golden colour to that of blood red, the red only found with those blessed with the Sharingan. Tenten nodded knowingly as she remembered her friend's secret.

"Understand now?" Suzu asked her friend as she pushed her hands into her pockets.

Tenten nodded again and spoke her thoughts.

"So you copied the jutsu," Tenten said matter-of-factly and her ice haired friend shrugged and gave a bob of her head in confirmation.

They stood in silence for a moment before Tenten spoke the obvious thought out loud.

"So what are we going to do about Hinata?" Tenten asked and then continued, "She is captured I'm guessing, 'cause Sasuke managed to get her flag…" Tenten trailed off while shaking her head.

"We could try to find Sasuke and get her flag back," Suzu suggested while brushing her shiny bangs from her face.

"Um, that won't be necessary," came a small voice from behind the two, and they whipped around to see Hinata standing there with a small smile on her face.

"Hinata!" Tenten yelled but quickly snapped her hand over her own mouth when noticing an uneasy expression on both her friend's faces.

"You've got a habit for doing that," Suzu stated as she poked Tenten in the stomach.

Tenten laughed and continued her earlier statement.

"So Hinata, why are you here? Aren't you captured? Didn't the sensei come to take you to the boy's side?" Tenten asked curiously.

Hinata shook her head slowly.

"No um, because I managed to take this," she said as she pulled a flag from her pocket.

Tenten's eyes widened in surprise and even the normally calm Suzu cocked her head in surprise.

"Hinata," Tenten began seriously, "Who's flag is that?"

Sasuke ran shakily but with good speed through the forest, His legs were tired but he forced the exhaustion away and kept a steady pace.

'_The ice jutsu really wore me down.' _He thought sourly as he stopped his frantic running to look for a safe spot to rest.

Seeing a relatively safe spot in the roots of a large tree, he walked over and collapsed onto the leafy ground. Suddenly, he realized something was wrong. He ran a finger through his raven coloured hair as he tried to figure out what it was. In a moment her knew, and his hand snapped to the flag – _'flag' _as in not plural – at his waist. He looked down quickly and realized, a bit surprised that he did indeed only have on flag with him.

'_Hinata's flag.' _Sasuke thought with a smirk, but it quickly diminished when the main question came to his mind. **Where was his flag?** He punched the ground once in frustration and confusion while thinking. He thought back to his fight with the byakugan user and couldn't help but smile at the frustrating but satisfying match.

'_She has gotten stronger.' _He mused but continued on with his replay of their duel.

He remembered Tenten's constant, perfectly aimed barrage of weapons and he cursed himself when remembering, for one split second, he glanced around to try to locate the brunette. That one second was all the small girl under him needed.

**End of Chapter 2**

Hey again. Thanks for reading that chapter. It was kind of short, but I'll try to make them longer in the future. After all, this is my first fanfic. . Lol. Anyway, I'm working on the next chapter and halfdemon-kai is trying to get her own fanfics and things typed up, so I'll don't know when the next chapter will be done. So please R&R and hopefully I'll get the next chapter finished soon. .


	3. Proof and Planning

Hello everyone. This is the third chapter! I finally finished writing it and halfdemon-kai finally finished typing it. Lol. . Thank you to all those who've read this and enjoyed it. I plan on continuing. Please enjoy this chapter! If there are any mistakes and what not, blame halfdemon-kai, and tell her to get them fixed. .

**Chapter 3**

Tenten laughed at the smaller girl's story when she heard about whose flag Hinata had.

"What cunning thieving fingers you have," Tenten playfully teased the small girl, "What an explanation you are going to have to give once we finish this competition!" Tenten cheered excitedly with he fingers as the female trio walked calmly and quietly through the colourful forest.

"I can't wait to see the expression on the Uchiha's face when he realizes who took his flag!" Tenten jeered as a playful expression crossed her cheerful face.

"You're going to have some apologizing to do," Tenten said with a smirk as she wiggled her finger in Hinata's direction.

"Well Tenten," Hinata began, playing along, "you will also have to apologize as well I fear," she said heartily in her small voice.

"Why me?" Tenten asked while quirking an eyebrow.

"Well," Hinata began," "You are the reason he looked away in the first place," the white eyed girl stated.

"That's the whole reason I got his flag," Hinata said as she glanced at the flag of Sasuke Uchiha tied firmly around her waist and she couldn't help but smile, "You distracted him," she finished as she took her eyes from the flag and gave her friend a pat on the back.

Tenten smiled at her friend's praise.

"We got each other's backs don't we?" Suzu said and her golden orbs flashed with pride.

Tenten and Hinata both smiled at the strong girl's statement. They all walked for about a half-hour through the forest in the direction of their base where the team flag was, making small talk along the way. They were almost there when suddenly Hinata gasped and stopped in her tracks. Both her friends turned a curious eye on her as they both stopped as well.

"What's wrong?" Tenten asked nervously as she glanced around to locate danger.

Suzu remained stoic, apparently unconcerned whether danger was close by or not. Hinata shifted her feet and tugged on the bottom of her jacket.

"Um, T-Tenten," she stuttered as a blush found its way to her face.

"What is it?" Tenten bade her as she took a step forward.

Hinata continued.

"W-where is Naruto?" she blurted out which drew a glance from Suzu.

"Oh," Tenten smiled and clasped her hands behind her back.

"Didn't Sasuke send Naruto to find you?" the shy girl stated rather then asked.

Tenten nodded and took out a kunai.

"Well," Tenten began as she started to stroke the kunai lovingly, "let's just say, Naruto will not be competing for a while," the weapon mistress said evilly as she watched Hinata's face go white in fear.

A moment later, Tenten burst out laughing. Hinata's face turned from fear to confusion. Tenten continued her laughter without mercy.

"Aha, Hinata you face!" she giggled and even Suzu chuckled at the sight.

Hinata blew a sigh of relief, realizing that Tenten had not actually harmed Naruto in any way. She started giggling too out of embarrassment.

"Tenten!" Hinata laughed and continued to blush.

Tenten smiled widely and wiped the laughing tears from her eyes.

"Sorry Hina," she said in a happy sympathetic way, "I couldn't help it!"

"Anyway," Tenten continued as she fumbled with something in her pocket.

Then she pulled out a red flag of the male's team.

"He had it in for him," Tenten said simply with shrug, "He ran right by and didn't even see me," she said as the three girls continued their walk, "I pinned him to a tree," she said with a wink.

"I wonder if he's still there," Hinata said.

"Who knows?" Tenten laughed.

The trio walked through the forest for a couple more minutes until they finally came upon the area of their flag.

As the female team had planned, Sakura was the one in charge of the people who got close to the flag.

"Who are you?" Sakura's voice called out to them and all three of the girls adjusted their headbands in response.

This was the signal for the female's team, without the signal, most likely Sakura would have pulled a trap that would have sent the imposters running.

Sakura walked out of her hiding area and came up to them smiling.

"Good to see you are safe," Sakura said bobbing her head and brushing her pink hair from her eyes, "We have had quite a few imposters try to sneak through," she said as she glanced behind her, at the game prison were all the captured ninjas of the other team were.

"Hinata, I'm having a bit of trouble by myself keeping a look out," Sakura sighed as she turned to the small girl, "Could you stay here with em and help?" she asked hopefully.

"Um, yes, I could do that," Hinata said as she glanced apologetically at her friends.

"Where is Ino?" Suzu asked, "Isn't she supposed to help you?"

Sakura nodded and spoke again.

"Ino was captured," Sakura said solemnly as she motioned for the three girls to follow her.

They followed the pink haired girl willingly to the spot of their flag. Hinata took the time to activate the little chakra she had left into her eyes for her Byakugan. She slowed her pace a bit so she could glance around and take a more careful look at the area she would be protecting. She noticed that many of the traps Sakura had set had been sprung.

"How many came through here?" Suzu asked as she had noticed as well.

"Hmm," Sakura thought while looking at the ground, "About five already," Sakura said, counting her fingers.

"Most of them were captured quickly," she stated, not bothering to look back at the other three females.

She continued.

"But Neji came by not too long ago and started springing the traps on purpose," Sakura half laughed and half scowled, "and then after that we had about three more come, in an attempt to snatch the flag."

Sakura sighed but still continued…

"It took a lot of Temari's chakra to blow the other ninjas out, and Ino got her flag taken."

Finally, they all reached a gigantic tree and moved a couple of thick vines and walked inside.

Once inside they all halted and glanced around at the inside of the tree. It was very large, but it only had one entry way.

"A good place to hide a flag," Suzu stated as she walked ahead of the others, "it's spacious but easily defendable since there is only one entrance…" she trailed off and let Sakura finish her thoughts.

"Basically once you are in, there is no other way to get out," Sakura said with a smile.

"So I'm guessing the flag is up there," Tenten said as she tilted her head and pointed upward.

"It is," Hinata said as she appeared to glance up to the top of the tree with her Byakugan activated.

"There are traps too," she told her friends and they continued to glance up the long stretch of the tree to the top.

"It's too hard to see," Tenten said as she squinted.

"It's starting to get dark," Sakura said before turning to Hinata, "I need your eyes this night," the pink haired girl told her and she nodded in accord.

"Alright, thanks Hinata," she smiled gratefully, "let me lead you guy up to the flag. Make sure you do **_exactly _**as I do or you might set off one of the traps," she told them seriously.

With his chakra finally recovering slowly, Sasuke made decent time getting back to his flag area. Walking up to the small cave, he looked around and wondered in confusion.

'_Where's the guard?' _he asked himself but he ran his hand through his hair casually as many male ninjas landed in a circle, the answer to his question. He noticed dully that they all had kunai in their hands. On cue, Neji landed a short distance away with his Byakugan activated as he looked at Sasuke.

"Not a clone," he stated as he continued to stare at Sasuke with a hard expression.

Finally he raised his hand and motioned for the other ninjas to be at ease.

"What took you so long?" the Uchiha survivor scoffed as Neji walked up to him.

"Your chakra is lower than normal that's what," Neji said with a sharp tone.

They both weren't the greatest friends but being on the same team, they had to make due. Sasuke only nodded at Neji's analysis and continued to glare hard at the Hyuga.

"Who did you fight with?" Neji asked solemnly while continuing looking at Sasuke's arms and legs.

But before he could answer, Neji cut in again.

"Hinata," the Hyuga said in a low voice and Sasuke nodded.

"She managed to cut off some of your chakra flow," Neji stated with a smirk.

Casually, he walked up to Sasuke and started poking him, seemingly at random.

"What the hell are you do...?" Sasuke started to say but suddenly a great flow of chakra surged through him, and Neji stepped back to his former position.

"I released your chakra flow," Neji said as he beckoned Sasuke to follow him into the cave.

Sasuke rotated his shoulder and flexed his arm. He had to admit, he felt much better. With a secret thanks to Neji, he followed the Hyuga into the cave.

He met Ino leaning against the wall of the cave with some other female ninjas. He mentally sighed as her high pitch voice rang out.

"Sasuke," Ino said a bit too cheerfully as she got to her feet and walked quickly over to him, "I'm so happy you're okay!" she said, beaming at him.

At her words, he quirked an eyebrow but she didn't notice and continued talking anyways.

"It would be so sad if the famous Uchiha got captured," she said with no over exaggerated pout as she gripped his arm in a caring way.

"Let go of him Ino," Neji said from a short distance away, "You are captured. Go sit back down and wait for your teammates," he said with a smirk as he motioned for Sasuke to continue following him.

Sasuke gave a glance at Ino before shrugging out of her grasp and continuing down the darkening tunnel of their cave after his teammate.

"Hey Hyuga," Sasuke said in a tone of voice that made the violet eyed male turn and glare at him.

Sasuke held up his hands in a non-threatening way to let Neji know he meant no disrespect.

"What's that girl's name, you know, the one with the blue hair?" he asked in the most conversational voice he could afford.

"Her name is Suzu," Neji said after indicating for Sasuke to step over an invisible string, a trap apparently, "But why would you care?" Neji asked him curiously.

"There is something… strange about her," Sasuke said shaking the strange feeling off.

They continued in silence for a few minutes. Sasuke thought about his next move, where he was planning to go, and about the strange girl.

"You might want to stop walking," Neji said a little amused, and Sasuke quickly snapped out of his thoughts.

He patiently waited for Neji to finish knocking the password-tune on the wall, and as expected, the wall next to them dropped away and there stood Gaara with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall.

"Hurry up. I don't have all day," Gaara said in his usual cold voice and the two of them walked through the new entry way.

Quickly after entering, the sand ninja sealed the door. Of course after the tunnel behind them was sealed, the tunnel was pitch black. Neither were bothered however, the Uchiha and the Hyuga were gifted with powerful vision. So they continued walking unbothered, down the tunnel.

'_How is the other team going to get passed the sand nin?' _Sasuke thought slightly concerned for the safety of his friends. He glanced over his shoulder even though the blood haired ninja was far behind. Gradually the tunnel became slightly lighter until they came to a small chamber where the flag was resting easily and safely on a rock.

"Proof," someone said a moment later and both Sasuke and Neji turned to regard Shikamaru who was casually sitting in a corner.

"I need proof that it's really you guys," Shikamaru stated.

Sasuke just shoved his hands in his pockets and Neji scowled.

"Can't you tell the imposters from the real by now?" Neji said sarcastically but by the tone of his voice, most wouldn't be able to tell.

"Well 'scuse me if I'm not as smart as you _'Mr. Genius'_," Shikamaru said standing up, and Sasuke laughed inwardly at the irony of that statement.

Shikamaru was actually the smartest ninja Sasuke knew of right now. With an IQ of over two-hundred, but the thing was, he was extremely lazy, which was probably the reason he was sitting in this room, simply as a last resort. Suddenly another thing crossed Sasuke's mind and a small smirk crossed his handsome face.

'_So that's why the tunnels are so dark.' _He mused. _'Plenty of space for his shadow to roam.' _

**End of Chapter 3**

Hello again. I'm sorry that it was sort of short. I hope that the fourth chapter will be longer. . Please R&R, and I'll write the fourth chapter soon, and then give it to halfdemon-kai to type up. Bye, bye! Hope you enjoyed it!


	4. Claim of Pride

Hello everyone it's me. Sorry the fourth chapter took so long. I lost my writing book and the fourth chapter and everything. : ( So I had to rewrite it. Thanks to all who reviewed the first couple chapters and a special thanks to **_Zyphr Blade _**(for the awesome review) and to my friends **_halfdemon-kai _**(who types up my story by the way. : ) and **_Byakugan Hyuga, _**thanks you guys.

**Claim of Pride**

The three girls collapsed at the top of the tree when they finally made it all the way up. Hinata had long ago disengaged from her Byakugan, needing whatever small amount of chakra she had left for climbing. To everyone, her eyes seemed a little less bright than usual, like her Byakugan had sucked her chakra and then stole the energy of her eyes too.

"Quite a climb isn't it?" Sakura asked her friends with a wide smile before leaving to keep watch again.

"How does she do it so often?" Tenten huffed as she propped herself up onto her elbows.

"She's used to it," Suzu stated, "She's memorized where all the hand holds are so she doesn't need as much chakra to get up as we do."

Suzu leaned against the side of the tree and sighed. They all glanced up near the entrance.

"It's Temari," Hinata said, peering over the edge of the platform.

"Are you positive?" Suzu asked sternly but Hinata just shook her head, she didn't know.

Suzu stood up to go look, but suddenly a soft but firm hand almost yanked her off her feet.

What the – Tenten!" Suzu hissed, a little shaken an annoyed, but her face changed from annoyance to surprise when Tenten started motioning to her eyes.

"It's dark Your Sharingan!" Tenten said rapidly, frantically.

"Damn!" Suzu cursed.

She pulled her headband low over one eye and pulled her bangs down over the other.

"I can't believe I forgot about that," the ice haired ninja muttered.

She turned to her friend to make sure her eyes weren't visible. Hinata nodded and Tenten did the same. A few seconds later, Temari landed swiftly on the platform.

"So you made it," Temari said while glancing at each of them individually and when her eyes came to rest on Suzu, the ice haired girl hurriedly looked away.

Temari walked across the small room and rested her large fan against the wall. Next to it, she sat down. Hinata, Tenten, and Suzu sat in a circle in front of her. They sat in awkward silence for a moment before Temari spoke up.

"So do you three know what's going to happen tonight?" she asked, but continued on anyways, not waiting for a reply, "The enemy team is planning an attack."

"How do you know?" Tenten asked wearily as she crossed her legs.

"It's obvious," she responded.

Hinata cleared her throat.

"Please explain," she said curiously as she glanced at her friends.

They seemed to have the same thing in mind.

"Okay, well, you obviously know of Naruto, one of the ninja who was captured right?" Temari explained, "Well he keeps fidgeting and saying something about _'almost time' _and he keeps pacing, you think he'd keep quiet huh? He's waiting for his team," the wind ninja stated briefly.

"Are you certain that's what they're planning?" asked Suzu.

Temari nodded, "There's no doubt about it."

The four girls sat quietly for a moment. Hinata semi-consciously fingered the red cloth at her waist.

"So… I guess we need some sort of a plan now right?" Tenten said a little nervously.

"M-might be a good idea," Hinata laughed.

Temari spoke up quickly, "We should send some of our team over while they are attacking," she said while nodding to herself.

"We will go," Suzu immediately spoke out and she motioned to Tenten and Hinata.

"Well that settles it then," Tenten agreed cheerfully as she stood up and stretched.

Suzu stood up next but made sire that Temari didn't see her eyes. Hinata also started to stand up but Temari put a firm hand on her shoulder to keep her sitting.

"But, what about her?" Temari asked sternly, "She's supposed to stay here and keep watch!"

Suzu pondered this for a minute before replying.

"She'll stay and keep watch until they are near, but when the time comes, we are leaving," she stated, ad by her tone, Temari didn't argue.

After a few more minutes Sakura walking in with some water for them and collected Hinata, and together, the two girls walked out into the open night.

Suzu watched them go and then she nodded to Tenten.

"Let's go," she said calmly before giving a brief nod to Temari. She leapt from the platform with Tenten right behind. They landed safely and easily at the base of the tree. Suzu landed on all fours and glanced at Tenten out of the corner of her eye.

"Ready?" the Sharingan ninja asked, and Tenten smiled and nodded determinedly.

"Good luck Temari!" Tenten hollered back up the tree, and Temari let a gentle, refreshing wind blow by to say _'thank you'_.

* * *

Sasuke watched as his teammates started to leave their area and head toward the enemy territory. He felt slightly annoyed that his role was to stay behind and defend the base. He turned his head slightly as Neji approached from behind.

"Don't let you guard down," Neji said as he walked by swiftly, his stride determined.

The Uchiha gave a small nod and watched Neji take off into the forest. He felt dismayed for being left behind, but he shook it off and remembered his task. After a few more minutes of watching his teammates slowly disappear into the forest, Sasuke made no rush in getting back to the cave entrance. He kicked the ground stubbornly before sitting down against the cold stone wall.

"Well now what do I do?"he scoffed as he glanced out towards the forest again. Subconsciously, his hand wandered down to the flag knotted at his waist. He looked down at it and flashed a smile. After a moment of thought, he brought the blue cloth over his lap and lazily wrapped it around his fist.

"You seem pretty caught up with that blue flag of yours," a rough voice rang out.

There was a moment of silence.

"How did you manage to end up with a girl's flag?" the voice said almost teasingly.

Surprised, Sasuke snapped out of his train of thought and dropped the flag hurriedly. A bit uncertain to how he was caught off guard so easily, he raised his head.

"What do you want?" he asked Kiba sternly as he shifted his sitting position slightly.

"To know who's that is," Kiba said quickly as he pointed.

"Why does it matter?" Sasuke asked as he turned away from Kiba to hide his embarrassment at the unexpected situation.

"'Cause it does," said Kiba.

"No it doesn't."

"Yes it does."

"No."

"Yeah."

"…"

The two glared at each other for a moment before Kiba spoke again.

"Y'know, when you deny it you just make a bigger deal of it," he said with a wide smile.

Sasuke stood up quickly, a little surprised that Kiba's comment was undeniably true. Sasuke stood there for a long moment, his muscles tense.

'_Why am I acting like this? Pull it together!' _he yelled at himself.

"_Maybe because what he's saying makes sense?"_ another voice argued inside his head.

'_It does not!' _the first replied.

"_Don't try to deny it, you know I'm right." _

Sasuke shook the idiotic voices away and looked Kiba in the eye again. This time, with not such an angry look. He discovered he had new respect for Kiba, and out of respect, he kept his mouth shut.

"So you gunna tell me?" Kiba asked again, but Sasuke didn't answer and instead, walked by swiftly.

Kiba's eyes widened as Sasuke strode past him.

"I'd recognize that scent anywhere…" he said quickly as he turned around to watch Sasuke's retreating back, "it's Hinata's."

Sasuke stopped walking and turned his head to peer over his shoulder.

"She's like a little sister to me, if you hurt her…" Kiba threatened, and beside him, Akamaru growled.

The Uchiha smirked and closed his eyes.

"I did no such thin," he said before continuing to walk away.

After putting some distance between himself and Kiba, he found a suitable tree and leaped up to a high branch. After settling comfortably, he turned his gaze outward into the moonlit forest.

'_I wonder how the team is doing… they haven't sounded the winning bell yet so I suppose the other team is holding out,' _the raven haired Uchiha thought to himself while placing his fist under his chin. After concentrating and listening intently, the sound of shouting and clashing of kunai reached him.

'_It will be over soon.' _

He sighed silently. Aside from training himself, this was the next best form of strengthening himself quickly. He wished it would last longer.

"Then maybe I'd have a chance to get my flag back," he scoffed.

Then another thought popped into his mind.

'_So why wait?'_

This wasn't about winning, it was about pride.

* * *

"Here they come," the shy, blue haired ninja whispered to herself.

After only an hour of waiting, the opposing team had finally come.

'_L-lots of them. Can we hold out?' _she asked herself while quickly leaping down a few branches to Sakura's spot.

She watched Sakura jump when she spoke out from behind.

"You all right Sakura?" Hinata asked worriedly, tilting her head slightly and clasping her hands together in front of her.

"I'm fine, just a bit distracted," the pink haired girl said hurriedly, "They almost here?"

Hinata nodded, "They are. I suppose you should get going, a-and so s-should I…" she said, looking down and shifting her feet.

"But Tenten and Suzu already left," Sakura pointed out to her, "You sure you should go all the way over there by yourself?"

Sakura waited for Hinata to give her answer, but non came. She turned around a moment later to look at her, but there was no longer a small, blue haired girl standing there. She was alone.

* * *

"Hurry up Tenten!" Suzu called over he shoulder, "You want Hinata to get there before us and have no back up?!"

"I'm sorry," Tenten began from behind, "but I really think it would have been better if we had waited for Hinata, not leave without her…"

Suzu slowed her pace a bit so she could speak more directly to her friend.

"Hinata knows the plan. She'll meet up there as expected," the ice ninja paused for a moment, "Unless you don't think she can make it on her own?" Suzu asked slyly, glancing over her shoulder to look Tenten in the eye.

"No, that's not it at all!" Tenten cried as she pushed herself harder to come up beside Suzu.

"Really, then… tell me why you seem so nervous?" Suzu asked while pouring more chakra into her feet for extra balance.

"Aren't you worried at all?" Tenten asked, a little taken aback by her friend's calmness.

Suzu remained quiet for a moment and turned her head back to look ahead again.

"I'm not worried… and neither should you be."

Tenten hung her head, "I guess you're right. We shouldn't be distracted at a time lie this…"

"Right," Suzu responded.

Both went silent after this discussion, realizing that it was too close to their destination to give up the element of surprise.

"Tenten," Suzu whispered sharply over her shoulder after a few uneventful minutes had passed.

Tenten raised her deep brown eyes with a questioning look, but she knew something was happening, or going to.

"Keep running," she whispered in such a low voice that Tenten almost didn't catch it before Suzu disappeared from her sight, in the blink of an eye.

She did as she was told and ran hard. It took her a moment to find out why, but from the corner of her eye, she watched her pursuer. A bit less confident that they would make it to the desired area without any trouble, she pulled a kunai from her pouch.

When her new attacker finally launched himself from the tree line, Tenten skidded to a halt and flung her kunai hard and with perfect aim. Unfortunately, her attacker was with exceptional speed and was already far away when the kunai sunk into the soft ground.

"So Kiba, managed to keep yourself together this lone huh?" Tenten asked, playfully teasing him.

"What, you surprised?" he shot back with a smile.

She shook her head while pulling another kunai from her pocket, "Not really."

She momentarily paused when she heard a soft growl from behind. Instinctively, she bent down and rolled while Akamaru soared over her. Next Kiba came rushing in the moment she rolled back onto her feet and threw a chakra infused punch at her. She easily dodged with a mere turn of her head and threw in a kick of her own to his open back. Akamaru barked sharp and quick and Kiba ducked without a second thought.

Tenten didn't stop there though. She continued her melee assault by sending two quick jab punches to Kiba's shoulder. The first one clipped Kiba but the second one missed totally as Kiba used his reflexes to leap away hurriedly. She let out a small sigh of relief.

'_I can do it. I can match Kiba,'_ Tenten thought, a little excited.

"Not bad Tenten," Kiba said, sounding surprised, "I never knew you were the melee type, though I'd catch you off guard," he said, putting his hands on his hips.

"Heh, well I do have the Hyuga Neji on my team," she reminded him with a wink.

"Ah, so he gave you some pointers did he?" Kiba asked.

"Much more than pointers, unfortunately for you," Tenten inquired, assuming a battle stance resembling that of Neji's.

She secretly watched Kiba for his reaction, and she smirked when she got the reaction she wanted… surprise. But she was surprised herself at Kiba's next comment.

"You know, he's never taught anyone outside his clan the fighting style he showed you," he scratched his head while continuing, "You must be special to him if he's willing to teach you something so secret."

Tenten blushed hard and lowered her gaze away from Kiba's.

'_That can't be true. I'm not that special…' _She told herself sourly.

Her eyes widened in realization, and she looked up to find what she expected… nothing, no one.

"Uh oh," Tenten mumbled to herself as she glanced around with clear confusion.

"I've got you!" Kiba shouted from a close distance from behind her.

She spun around quickly but not quick enough to get her guard totally up. Kiba crashed full force into her and her breath was taken away. He stretched out his arm and laughed when his fingers came in contact with her flag. But unexpectedly, he cursed when her cloth slipped through his grasp. He growled and turned to meet Suzu, who currently had her face buried in his chest. His expression softened when he fully realized who got between him and Tenten's flag.

They both crashed to the ground and he unconsciously realized she was trying to pin him soon after. He panicked and quickly grabbed her wrist and pushed a foot into her stomach, sending her flying over his head. He turned quickly got to his feet. Suzu twisted easily in the air and landed with a soft _thud _on her hands and feet.

"So Suzu, I never doubted you'd get this far," he said pleasantly with a wave, "I should have known you two would be together."

Suzu smirked and looked at her female friend, "You alright there Tenten?" she asked.

"Fine, fine," the brown eyes girl said, waving her off.

Suzu turned back to Kiba.

"So I guess these are unlucky circumstances for you huh?" the ice ninja told him as she raised her clenched fist.

Kiba shrugged but said nothing. Suzu turned to her teammate.

"Why don't we even things up a bit?" she said in a questioning tone, "You go on ahead Tenten," she said while waving in the direction of the opposing team's flag.

"Um, you sure?" she asked, but Suzu was nodding before she even finished.

With one last look at Suzu, she agreed and took off toward the male's base.

Kiba made a small move to follow Tenten but for some reason he didn't know, this fight with Suzu seemed more important. Even more so than winning the whole game entirely. So he turned to face his friend and foe.

**End of Chapter 4**

Thanks for reading this chapter. I'd like to thank my best friend, again, for typing this chapter for me. Hopefully the fifth chapter won't take as long as this one did and that I won't lose my new writing book like I did the last one. So please be patient with me. I do really try my hardest. Well if you have time, please review and I'll catch you next time.


	5. The Water's Charm

Thanks to all reviewers, and sorry this took so long. I kind of lost my book again. _sweat drops _But I was planning all along. So this chapter's gunna be extra long. Thanks to everyone and hope you enjoy. :D:D

**The Water's Charm**

'_Close now,' _Hinata huffed, running easily with decent speed toward the desired location.

'_I'm surprised that I haven't met up with anyone… I guess almost everyone on the other team went over.' _She sighed. _'I hope they hold out… I don't want this to end.' _

She stopped and placed her hand on a tree for support.

'_That was a long run,' _she thought to herself while breathing heavily. She hung her head and tried to get her breathing back to normal.

After a few moments of rest, she decided this would be the best time for her Byakugan. She slowly stood up and took her hand from the tree. Placing them together near her eyes, she called out softly.

"Byakugan."

She looked up and around her. After a mere few seconds, she spotted Suzu locked in close combat with another figure. After calming herself and standing perfectly still, she managed to analyze most of the situation in the distance. She briefly took in both Suzu and Kiba's condition. Both were panting heavily. Suzu seemed to be a little more banged up but Kiba seemed a little slower when reflexes applied.

"C'mon Suzu. You can do it," she whispered to herself.

'_Sorry Kiba, good luck to you too.' _She smiled as she watched them fight. They seemed just about evenly matched.

Next Hinata looked around for Tenten. Even with her Byakugan activated, she couldn't see her brunette anywhere.

'_That's unusual… Why did they split up?' _she thought while lifting up her chin. After staring for a few more minutes out toward Suzu and Kiba's fight, she deactivated her Byakugan.

Without realizing it, Hinata started to head in Suzu's direction. After only a couple of steps, she stopped and thought a bit. She shifted her feet while a new thought came to her mind.

'_Maybe going to Suzu… wouldn't be the best idea. Not at the moment at least…' _she sighed and withdrew her previous plan to help her golden eyes friend. After continuing this train of thought, she began to wonder about Suzu and Kiba. They got along great. They were both the same and basically equal in strength. They seemed to like to talk to one another. Perhaps leaving them together for a while would give them just the little boost they needed.

Hinata smiled lightly at the positive thought. Kiba was like her brother, and Suzu was like… her protector…

'_It would be so great if they got together!' _she inwardly told herself. She laughed at her own straightforwardness, but the idea of them made her very cheerful.

She turned her head in the direction of the two and said a small prayer.

'_**Best of luck to you both, hee hee.' **_

But even after this thought, the small kunoichi still found she couldn't decide on a plan of action… She ended up standing in the same spot for several extra minutes just staring blankly into the forest. She realized this mistake eventually and decided that if she couldn't decide on a plan, she should at least keep herself relatively hidden.

She moved over o the trunk of an old tree and sat down, pulling her knees in close. She began reviewing her options. She could go help Suzu… but she quickly discarded that option for a certain reason. Next, she could go find Tenten. She thought about that one for a few moments, but ended up tossing that idea aside as well. Tenten could be anywhere, and a likely idea would be that she had already gone to try to get the flag.

This brought Hinata to her last and final option. To go to the flag alone and do her part with the best of her abilities. She quickly decided on the last option and stood up. She felt it was the right choice.

Activating her Byakugan again, she quickly located the cave that the flag was apparently in.

Getting to the cave would be tough. Located on a slight slant as well as sharp rocks and stones along the way (often covered by leaves) she understood perfectly why the other team had chosen the spot. She also recalled that the chosen cave had very narrow tunnels; easily defendable she realized again.

Shaking off the nervous feeling in her stomach, she continued the long run through the forest. The moon was high now, almost directly above.

For a while the blue haired ninja had decided to keep her eyes on the ground. She already encountered one trap (nearly missing it by an inch) and there were sure to be more to come.

Slowing her pace by a lot because of the tough new terrain, Hinata began to walk for the time being. Still watching the ground. She felt something unfamiliar press against her forehead. She stopped walking. Cautiously, she reached up and felt it. The Byakugan user scrunched up her face in confusion.

'_What is this?' _she thought, a little confused. After finally grabbing it, she back up a step and looked carefully at it.

'_It's a string, a fishing line?' _she squinted, then her eyes widened and her gaze followed the string. A trap. A big one. After realization hit her full force, she let go of the string quickly and backed away, shaking her head. That was too close.

Moving carefully but quickly around the trap, she hurried away from the dangerous spot.

'_That was c-close,' _she stuttered, even in her mind. Still shaken she found she had trouble walking, but she continued on anyways. _'Why would they put such a dangerous trap? Sakura's traps aren't like that…' _she paused, _'Sakura's traps are meant to entangle, maybe paralyze of even injure, but that one… was meant to kill!' _

She shook her head when understanding how close she had been to having her life taken away. Pure luck, she decided. Still, she felt sick.

Still pondering the other team's intentions, she couldn't help but smile in spite of herself when she passed a large pond. Easily one of the prettiest sights in the forest. The water was calm and the moon enhanced the feeling of purity, of safety too.

Continuing on, with a nervous smile on her face, with nothing to do at the moment, she let her mind wander.

'_I haven't heard the bell yet… can we last until tomorrow?' _she thought about it. The idea wasn't impossible. If the team could manage to drive them off, the game would continue on, for however long it took.

'_Sakura's traps are good. Hopefully they will be enough for now…' _

"You should pay more attention," a smooth voice said from behind her, "That was too easy."

She spun around, her hand on her flag. She gasped when she realized how close he was.

"H-how did you-"

"How did I what?" he asked shyly, "You seem to think it was hard to sneak up on you."

He smirked.

The blue haired kunoichi sighed inwardly. This was Sasuke… he could sneak up on anyone and say it was easy. Still, she should have noticed him she told herself. He caught her off-guard… She was ashamed.

With a small frown on her face, she glanced up at him. He was staring at her expectantly. She quickly blushed and looked away again. After a few seconds had passed, Hinata suddenly understood why he had that look on his face. She stuttered and stumbled back, away from him. Her face burned when he laughed slightly.

'_This isn't a casual conversation!' _she yelled at herself.

"So, you going to hand it over or should I take it?" he asked her.

She gulped. She almost wished it _was _a casual conversation now. She put her hand on his flag.

She took a deep breath so her response would sound somewhat confident. It didn't.

"I-I'm not going to give it b-back, not without t-trying," she said very quietly.

He nodded.

"I was hoping you would say that," the Uchiha said, smirking.

Hinata swallowed again.

He took a step and in the blink of an eye was right in front of her, very close again.

"Are you sure you don't want to change your mind? It's your last chance," he told her.

Then at last he stated, "Not that I want you to."

She looked at him with surprise. Then she shook her head, the ends of her hair brushing against his nose.

"I'm going to fight," she said a little more calmly.

As she expected, he let her back up a few steps. She wasn't really surprised. As far as she knew he had always been a fair fighter. Not relying to lying or deceit to win a battle. She found that, in her subconscious mind, she was eager to fight. To prove herself maybe? She didn't really know.

'_That's strange,' _she thought, _'I've never __**wanted**__ to fight anyone before…' _

She quickly got into her battle stance, the Hyuga Style. The small kunoichi took a deep breath and closed her eyes so she could relax. She could still feel his presence a few steps in front of her. He didn't seem to have any burning need to attack her while she was preparing herself.

Slowly, Hinata opened her light purple eyes. She looked him in the eye and spoke softly.

"Thank you," she said truly.

He nodded.

"You ready?" he asked.

She responded with a quick nod of her own and deciding he didn't need the upper hand first, she rushing in quickly.

_**Sasuke's P.O.V. **_

He wasn't really surprised that she decided to attack first. That's kind of what he wanted anyways; to test her strength. He pushed aside the palm thrust sent to his chest and threw out a punch. She responded as he thought, she blocked it quickly and twisted her hand to grab his wrist. He let her for the moment. Next she turned and tried a back hand. He listened to the _whoosh _as it harmlessly flew over his ducked head. It seemed strong and firm, but he didn't think it would have left more than a bruise. It was like she wasn't trying yet.

"I didn't come all this way to see you hold back," he said sternly, moving his head and shoulder to dodge a slice down.

She didn't respond, but suddenly her moves became faster, sharper, harder. He smirked widely. This was what he came for.

She spun fully around, letting go of his wrist in the process and attempted to kick him in the ribs. He got his arms up with blazing speed and braced himself. Her foot slammed into his open palm, braced by his other arm. The force of the kick nearly forced him to his knees. While he was mentally recovering from the impact, Hinata reversed her kick and spun again, coming in on the other side. Sasuke took notice of the distance and stepped back a bit and her leg spun past.

This seemed to leave her somewhat exposed so he decided he would try his luck. Pulling up his leg, he tried a downward ax kick. That would have ended it… if it had hit her. But, instead of blocking, she side stepped. Sliding back and out of the way of the next upward palm thrust, he took the time to analyze her condition.

She hadn't received any punishing blows yet, but she was panting hard from the strain of the movement and her Byakugan. He watched her legs shake and heard her deep breathing. He squinted his eyes in thought. She was strong, very strong, but she couldn't manage her chakra well. Sure, she could direct the flow to her hands and feet, but she could only keep the flow going for mere seconds during a punch or kick before cutting the chakra off again.

"Your punches can be stronger," he told her after a few moments, "Maybe I will show you later," Sasuke said as he casually slid his hands into his pockets.

She seemed confused.

"W-what do you mean?" she panted while talking.

He guessed she was wondering about his statement, for she risked a glance at her hands.

"Like I said, maybe I'll tell you later. I can't risk you figuring it out now."

_**Hinata's P.O.V. **_

'_What's he talking about? I can… become stronger?' _

She didn't have time to wonder about it any longer though. Sasuke rushed at her and to evade, she easily performed the substitution jutsu with a nearby log. Taking a different position from behind him, she watched him, slightly awed and envious to see him adapt to any situation easily.

The substitution didn't seem to surprise him when he struck it down. Not even blinking, he turned towards her.

She stood still now, trying desperately to form a plan.

'_There is no way I can beat him…'_ she thought, a little saddened.

Still thinking desperately, she continued to watch him while he silently walked towards her again.

Finally, a decent plan formulated in her mind, but she needed time for it…

'_Sasuke is a fast runner… he would catch me in an instant, but all I need is a moment, just one moment…I can make it,' _she tried to convince herself.

Clasping her hands together quickly in different signs, she tried to focus her chakra.

'_Please work!'_ she cried in her mind.

When finally her chakra felt built up enough, she took one last deep breath. The cool night air refreshed her a bit and her determination in her own abilities heightened.

"S-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" she stumbled over the words slight5ly but managed to say them well enough.

After she made the proper hand signs and called the jutsu's name, she felt a massive decrease in her chakra. Her legs shook violently, her shoulders slumped. Opening her eyes just a bit, Hinata immediately understood why.

'_How many are there?' _the young kunoichi thought as she wearily shifted her tired eyes around the area.

'_Fifty… Maybe more.' _She sighed. It worked at least.

Her head snapped up when she heard Sasuke's voice.

"I think you over did it," he said, a slight frown of disapproval on his face.

"Sorry," was all she said, continuing to look at him.

He still had the real Hinata pinpointed. She shook her head a bit, stunned.

'_I've got to move. My chakra is decreasing by the second…'_

"What now?" he asked her.

She tilted her head and smiled softly before replying.

"This," she said simply.

_**Sasuke's P.O.V.**_

The situation she created was hectic. Quite frankly, he was at a loss for words. Her clones jumped around him and ran off in different directions.

'_What's she thinking?'_ he tried to think quickly.

'_The clones aren't attacking me… why?'_ he pondered it quickly and dodged out of the way when a clone nearly ran into him.

'_Maybe she's preparing for another jutsu…'_ he thought, _'No… that couldn't be possible yet. The Shadow Clone Jutsu takes way too much chakra… This must be her last resort of defense. Her chakra must be low…' _

For the time being, he ignored the clones dashing around him and looked further outward, towards the dark forest. He took notice that some of the clones were running. Now, he understood perfectly.

'_Hmm, so… it's a distraction…'_ he thought finally.

"Sharingan!"

Finally, with his best talent activated, he took in the whole scene with ease.

Taking every Hinata into his vision, he watched for the real one. His eyes narrowed when he didn't immediately see her. After rotating his body and shifting his gaze frantically, he spotted her retreating form.

'_She's running!' _he thought, angry.

He blinked, since when was he angry about something like this?

Shaking the strange new feeling off, he started his chase after her.

He forced an even amount of chakra to his feet and hurried to catch up. She was pretty fast but her chakra was drained by her previous jutsu.

He smirked. His raven black hair waving slightly.

'_Where are you going?' _he asked himself as he approached silently from behind.

"Are you trying to outrun me?" he asked, mere meters from behind her.

Hinata tilted her head and replied calmly over her shoulder, "I don't need to."

He quirked an eyebrow but didn't have time to ask another question before bursting through a clearing, right above… a pond?

'_What's this?'_ he wondered as they both plummeted downward.

'_Why did you come here?'_

Still thinking, he remembered a bit too late that this was water he had to deal with. He didn't get his chakra to his feet fast enough and instead of landing easily and swiftly on the surface of the clear water like she did. He broke right through and sank under.

Scowling under the water's surface, he quickly pumped his arms and broke through the surface.

"Gah," he breathed, breaking through and tossing his head to get his hair out of his eyes.

Glancing up, he found Hinata giggling at him. He scowled, to hide his chuckle.

"Is water hard for you to stand on?" she asked, bringing her head up to cover her chuckling.

Her leg swept the water innocently, creating ripples.

"Caught off guard," he said more calmly than he expected he would in a situation like this.

To his surprise, she crouched down right in front of him. He gazed at her in silence. She was very pretty, he admitted, a little ashamed of himself. Continuing to wander her face with his eyes, he noted another fact. It wasn't the kind of pretty that made you stand perfectly still and drool. More like, a peaceful kind of beauty. Still taking the sight of her in, he looked into her eyes. Big, bright, and innocent. He found it hard to look away from them.

Her hair fell easily in front of her eyes, but not enough to cover them fully.

He broke out of his distracted state when she spoke to him. Her voice was quiet. He had to pump his arms softer in the water so he could hear her clearly.

"You let me prepare before," she told him, "I guess that means I have to return the favor."

He didn't understand what she was getting at but he watched as she stood up straight.

'_What is she doing?' _he thought as he continued to look at her.

She smiled lightly at him and placed her hands together in a hand sign. She closed her pale eyes and murmured softly.

Sasuke glanced down, bewildered when the water rippled slightly, near her feet.

Next, she slowly opened her eyes and pushed the palm of her hand outward, in a gesture Sasuke didn't understand.

Unexpectedly, small waves of clear splashing water flashed smoothly along the surface, coming towards him.

'_What's she going to do?'_

A thousand possibilities flashed through his frantic mind. Was she planning to drown him? Harm him in some way? Could she use the water to bind him and take his flag while he watched helplessly?

He watched as the rippling water surrounded him. Feeling the water tighten on him just slightly, he looked up into her face. It held a peaceful acceptance but also readiness. The water tightened around him just a bit more and began pulling.

He strained uncertainly against it, but the water merely seemed to reach out and grab his arm again gently. He flashed a small glare. She tilted her head, her hair falling to the side.

Watching the kunoichi out of the corner of his eye and keeping watch on his/her flag (which didn't seem to be anymore affected by the water's pulling effect than he was) he let the water pull him.

He became aware that the pulling wasn't dragging him down beneath the surface. It was simply and gently pulling him nearer and nearer to the rocky shore of the pond. He found that if he didn't strain, the process went much faster. After only a few seconds, he found himself sitting, drenched, on the smooth rocks of the shore. He looked back at Hinata. She was still standing in the same way, her hand still outward, in his direction.

'_She's not done yet?' _he wondered, a bit impressed.

Placing his hand on his knee, he took another long glance at the water. It swirled unnaturally at his feet…

He watched the clear liquid as he stood up, expecting something more.

This time, he was prepared when a narrow stream rose smoothly from the water. He wasn't nervous, in fact, he was rather curious as to what was coming next.

Slowly, the stream reached out and touched him, and suddenly, he was dry. Sasuke blinked in surprised delight. Would the surprises never cease?

He watched Hinata as her hand finally dropped and the thin stream in front of him fell silently down and splashed back into the pond, no longer being channeled by the blue haired girl standing a few meters away.

"I'm pretty low on chakra," Hinata said in all earnestly.

"I know," he responded automatically.

He watched her eyes widen for a moment.

"How?"

"Please. Like that clone jutsu didn't use up most of the chakra you had. And the Byakugan…" he trailed off.

Trying to cover her blush with her short hair, she shuffled her feet nervously.

"Well I, um," she stuttered crazily while trying to find an excuse for the clone jutsu.

She stuttered even more when he locked his gaze onto hers. He knew she had no excuse.

Shaking her head she realized she was making herself look like an idiot.

She looked down in silence as Sasuke stepped easily back onto the water in front of her. As far as she could tell, he was still looking at her.

Once she saw this, she started her jutsu first.

"Water Style, Water Tunnel jutsu!"

Their battle began.

**End of Chapter 5**

Thanks again to everyone who have read and reviewed. I did say I lost my book again.

_**halfdemon-kai-**_ Yeah, her sister stole it from her. Apparently it was under her sister's bed and she'd been looking for it forever.

Yeah, my sister had it. _sweat drops _ I hope you all enjoyed that chapter and sorry that it took so long to find my book. :D:D Please R&R and I'll update soon. :D


	6. Realizations

Hi everyone. : ) I'm really sorry that I haven't updated in a while, but I had a month of not wanting to write. _Sweat drops _Thank you to everyone who is reading this and leaving nice reviews for me. I really appreciate it. : ) Please enjoy.

**Realizations**

"Water style; Water Wall jutsu," Hinata said calmly but fiercely while performing the hand signs.

'_Control your chakra. Control, control, control…' _she told herself as she allowed the proper amount of chakra to flow out.

The wall rose up before her, steadily climbing higher and higher until it blocked the Uchiha from view, cutting off the rotating Sharingan that had been following her every move for the last hour.

'_That would be a pointless jutsu to copy,' _she thought quickly,_ 'I've got to act quickly while he can't see me.' _

"L-let's try something stronger, m-more aggressive," the Hyuga whispered; the idea seemed unfamiliar.

She brought her hands up quickly and began to perform the next jutsu, but a high pitched screeching ripped through her concentrated mind. She stood dazed for a moment as she thought.

'_C-chidori!' _she managed to stagger through her thoughts until she recalled the frightening jutsu.

As quickly as she recalled the jutsu, a bluish glow caught her eye on the other side of her wall of water.

'_He's coming!' _

Adrenalin pumping, the kunoichi wasted no time in shoving herself away from the wall. Not a second after, Sasuke crashed through her shield violently.

Chidori's power diminished considerably with the impact but the remainder of it still flickered in his hand. Hinata gasped.

'_Amazing, such incredible control… H-he still has Chidori,' _she thought, surprised as ever; more by his seemingly endless power.

After staring at him for a dazed second, the collapsed wall began to fall. Wave after wave it sank, crashing back down into the once undisturbed pond.

Hinata shoved her hands together fiercely but smoothly.

'_I have to reshape myself,' _Hinata told herself while her eyes narrowed into the utmost concentration.

Her hair wavered as her chakra flowed around her, even her eyes glowed brighter, the violet becoming more noticeable.

This was the end of the line. If her next jutsu didn't stop him or scare him off (she doubted it would be the latter) then she would not have enough chakra to defend herself hardly at all.

'_Here goes,' _she thought, a bit frightened by what the outcome could be but prepared all the same.

"Water style; Reflection of a Thousand Strikes!" she yelled.

The amount of chakra it took up was staggering – literally – she found herself almost on her face, almost. She guessed that sheer will power and pure fight managed to keep her from sinking into the pure but chilly water.

She smiled when she saw the look on Sasuke's face; a bit surprised and for some reason a bit pleased, though both visible emotions on his face melted away as quickly as they came. His careful, passive mask was put back in place.

Hinata watched as the water in front of her shimmered from dark blue and became crystal clear.

Sasuke was now staring at a thousand needles of sharp shards beneath the crystal surface.

Hinata's calm face scrunched up in confusion though when the wall behind Sasuke also shimmered and turned so clear that Hinata could see the forest on the other side. Then, a second later, the needles were visible. The wall was stable now as well.

She glanced at Sasuke. He didn't look at all discouraged or frightened. She doubted he'd look frightened even if he was near death but still…

'_The needles in the wall aren't supposed to be there… so why-' _she glanced at him and understood everything.

The moment she locked gazes with him she knew. Slowly, always slowly, calmly, his Sharingan was rotating.

The Hyuga tried, without much success, to keep the surprise off her face. She took a step back, quivering with the last of her chakra with each and every step – every second she spent standing on the water. Her face had paled considerably and her arms shook violently every time she tried to lift them.

'_S-so,' _she tried to think the situation through quickly.

Hinata glanced down.

'_The needles under the surface are mine,' _she thought, biting her lip before looking up.

She glanced up, her gaze lingering on Sasuke for an instance before gliding to the shimmering wall behind him.

'_The ones in the wall are Sasuke's.' _

Then without warning, Sasuke leapt, but not at her, he leapt straight up; so fast that she thought she'd imagined it.

'_He's trying to run,' _Hinata thought.

On impulse, Hinata released her jutsu. One thousand needles shot straight, reflecting the moonlight, reflecting the red of Sasuke's Sharingan… reflecting each other.

Hinata watched Sasuke from her lower position on the water's surface. He was so graceful and strong. She watched as he flipped easily in the air, his hair flying widely from his movements and his body tensed; prepared.

Then, in the heat of the scene, the thousand needles soaring up great heights to reach him there was an amazing crash.

Hinata flinched at the loud noise and wrenched her eyes away from Sasuke, back to the wall of water that was towering before her, her needles still rising one by one through the water.

Their needles were colliding.

She flinched as one made it through and grazed her shoulder. Other needles of his that managed to get through the assault splashed around her, too close for comfort.

'_It's only a matter of time before one hits me in the eye or in the heart!' _

But she couldn't spend anymore chakra. This was only the beginning of the attack, the finale would come soon.

So the Hyuga heiress crouched down, placing a hand on the surface to stop herself from falling over. She looked up at Sasuke. He was plunging back down now, a kunai in hand, expertly deflecting and reflecting and needles that got too close.

Hinata felt a pang of jealousy. How could someone fight **THAT** good and manage to do it all with flare? All of it? It was so…

But she snapped out of it when the water began to light up dangerously with a furious blue glow.

'_Here it comes,' _she thought, afraid.

She pushed her trembling self to her feet.

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Sasuke deflect five to six needles at once and plunge beneath the water's surface.

'_The illusion and the needles form on the surface, but beneath is perfectly safe,' _she thought, recalling the time she tried to perform the jutsu under water.

The water wall in front of her shattered then, breaking her thought.

'_Patience. Wait, wait,' _she thought calmly, _'I only have one chance or else they will get through it. It won't hold for more than a second…' _

The needles flew towards he rapidly. She waited for the first one to strike the water before her.

'_Now!'_

"Heavenly Spin!"

Her chakra burst around her for no more than a second, but that was enough. She hadn't been hit.

The water wavered – unstable – under her feet. Unstable, like her chakra. She slumped to her hands and knees.

'_Get up,' _a voice in the back of her mind demanded.

Her eyes glazed over as she listened to it.

'_Don't be a weakling. Stand up!' _the voice – her voice – growled.

"My chakra is gone," she mumbled.

Almost soothingly the voice responded.

'_So? You haven't sunken yet. Or do you __**want**__ to sink?' _

Hinata blinked, so straightforward, so true.

'_No, I won't fall willingly,' _she thought back.

'_You have more power then you realize.' _

That was all Hinata needed to hear; some sliver of proof that maybe she **was** strong enough to make it in the world. She wasn't dead yet.

Shaking tremendously, she used her arms to push herself to her feet. She wobbled and her knees buckled but she was standing. Gasping, she looked around.

'_Where is Sasuke?' _

Then she felt a soft pressure on the small of her back and then a small jolt. She tried to whirl around but she found herself frozen to the spot. Frozen.

'_Paralysis,' _she thought.

It was over.

She tried to sigh, saddened that she lost, but relieved that the long battle with Sasuke was over, but she found that she only ended up gasping for more air.

'_No chakra… left.' _

Sasuke was in front of her then, closer than what she would have normally felt comfortable with. His black eyes just as distant as ever, but his movement somehow seemed different to Hinata. For the first time since she had been with him, he seemed unsure. Almost like he was trying to be _'gentle'_.

Then he moved even closer than before until he was only inches away from her face, staring down slightly. She felt the heat begin to rush to her face.

'_What? No! Don't blush, don't blush you fool! You like Naruto!' _

But when she tried to recall the image of her energetic blond crush, none came easily to her. They were all blurred by Sasuke's closeness and his eyes; no longer the rotating Sharingan, but dark black pools again. His eyes made everything unsteady.

"That was a good battle," he said in a low voice as he lowered his head slowly.

The kunoichi's eyes widened as he leaned down and his hair brushed her cheek as he knelt and began undoing the loose knot of his flag tied around her waist.

'_He's not even smug…' _she thought softly, the blush still lingering on her face.

But she found it hard to concentrate on anything, even Sasuke with her chakra at such a dangerous falling point.

Her feet began to become unstable as Sasuke stepped back, her flag in his hand. Her legs quivered. It was hard to stand in the same position for a long time while her chakra drained uncontrollably.

'_I can't…' _she cried in her mind.

Suddenly, her feet slipped beneath the surface; she plunged down into the cold water.

"S-Sasuke!" she yelped, her eyes wide with fear.

Her head went under next, the water stinging her eyes, running through her hair and blocking her hearing.

She clamped her mouth shut, refusing to let out the little air she managed to get before plunging into the water.

Her body struggled against the paralysis.

'_Release it Sasuke,' _she silently pleaded, _'Please don't let me die like this.' _

As if on cue, a hand broke through the surface and grabbed her upper arm. It pulled her toward the surface quickly. She knew it was Sasuke's. She could tell by his power.

'_I wish I was that strong,' _she thought, no longer worried that she would drown shamefully.

As she expected her head broke through the surface and she began to cough from the lack of air. Her hair clung to her face as she breathed deeply. Her lungs began to feel normal again. Turning her head to look at him, she blinked.

'_The paralysis is gone,' _she thought, now enjoying the feeling of being able to move her finger and toes again.

Hinata sighed, her body relaxing.

Suddenly, she felt awkward. She took a quick glance at him from the corner of her eye. He was holding her easily in his arms above the water. One arm was behind her knees while the other arm went around and under her shoulders.

Hinata looked down and saw her fingers were tightly clutching his shirt. She bit the inside of her cheek.

'_Oops…' _

"S-sorry," she stuttered, hastily withdrawing her hand.

"Hn," was his response as he continued to hold her carefully.

His eyes stared at her, watching carefully for a reaction.

Hinata glanced up at him through her wet bangs. His eyes were still cold and blank as ever, but they seemed uncertain as well.

'_Is he okay?' _she wondered, shifting slightly.

"Um, y-you can p-out me down," she stuttered shyly, feeling her face heat up.

"You going to swim?" the prodigy asked her flatly, turning his head away slightly.

Hinata clamped her mouth shut.

'_Well you just made yourself look like an idiot, you fool,' _the Hyuga scolded herself.

She snapped out of her train of thought with a yelp when Sasuke began to walk to the shore of the pond. She jumped in surprise for a second but he held on tightly until she calmed down.

Setting her easily down on the forest floor, he stepped back.

Her brain felt waterlogged; exhaustion mixed with a near death experience could make anyone feel ten times heavier.

Putting her hands on the ground, she pushed herself unsteadily top her feet. Her head felt like a brick and her eyes blurred from exhaustion. She could feel Sasuke's eyes on her. She tried to look everywhere but him.

'_He's probably disgusted by me,' _she thought, a little sad, _'I can't say I blame him.'_

The Hyuga sighed in defeat.

She shivered as the water ran down her face and back. Her jacket stuck to her sides and shoulders.

"S-So I guess we're d-done here," Hinata murmured, keeping her eyes safely on the ground.

'_I can't look at him…'_ Hinata told herself, _'It's too hard. I'm weak; I need to train more.' _She thought, feeling the water run down her hand and drip from her fingers.

She glanced up a bit as his voice cut in.

"I'll walk you back," Sasuke told her emotionlessly while knotting her flag at his waist.

She glanced at it for a second before looking at him, "Okay."

He motioned for her to follow him and he began to walk slowly away. Hinata turned and looked back over her shoulder at the pond.

'_I tried.' _

She hurried after him. The wind made her shiver even more and her feet stumbled along clumsily.

After catching up to him, she slowed her pace and kept her eyes on the ground.

"So why are you out here alone?" Sasuke asked her.

He turned his head in her direction but he kept his eyes on the ground.

"Well, I-I was supposed to be with Suzu a-and Tenten," she glanced at him and he nodded for her to continue.

Hinata smiled softly to herself.

'_He's not so scary.' _

"I was keeping watch and y-your team was coming s-so I didn't have time to go and find them…" the shy girl told him.

They were both silent for a moment before a question came to Hinata.

"Um… Sasuke?" Hinata asked a moment later.

Sasuke turned and looked at her. She felt her heart miss a beat for a moment as he looked directly at her. His face was pale from the moonlight and his hair reflected the pale glow. His eyes were as dark as the shadows that lingered around them. Her mind went blank as she stared at him.

"What?" he asked her sharply, shoving his hands into his pockets.

She snapped out of her thoughts and quickly began her question.

"W-well," she began uncertainly, "I was wondering why you are away from your teammates. I-I mean, shouldn't you be helping?"

Suddenly a smirk graced his lips.

"I didn't listen," he said, now running his hand through his hair.

Hinata felt a small tug on the side of her mouth.

'_He didn't listen? What was he supposed to be doing?' _

The more she thought about it, the more it made her laugh. Finally, she allowed the smile onto her face.

The kunoichi laughed as she thought about Sasuke's attitude. It seemed like him to do what he wanted.

For the first time since she knew him, she saw humor touch his dark eyes. His mouth was turned slightly upward into his trademark smirk.

'_So he does have a sense of humor,' _she thought as she began to wonder about the side of Sasuke she had never seen before.

Casually, they began to walk again while she asked him the question that was now on her mind. He seemed almost eager to listen now. Like he had not laughed for so long. It was a new emotion he needed to learn again.

"So what were you supposed to be doing for y-your team?" she asked him.

Her mouth was still wide with a smile.

"Heh, I was supposed guard to team's flag," Sasuke told her in a low voice, leaning down slightly as if telling her a secret.

She brought her hands up to her mouth but they didn't quite muffle her laughter,

'_He, he left the flag! Neji is going to kill him!' _

Hinata kept laughing as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"S-Sasuke," she had a hard time talking through her giggles, "Well, y-you know, w-we sent some of my team over too!"

Sasuke stopped walking suddenly. Hinata bumped into him in surprise.

"Sasuke?" she said quietly, wondering if she had said something wrong.

He stood there silently before turning to her.

"Uh oh."

She smiled widely, unable to contain the feeling of pride she had for her team.

_**Sasuke's P.O.V. **_

He stopped walking.

"You sent people over?"

The shy girl nodded, trying to cover her smirk with her pale hands. Sasuke let out a small chuckle.

"I'm really screwed now, aren't I," he stated rather than asked.

The Hyuga heiress burst out in a fit of her soft giggles beside him. For some strange reason, that tiny laugh gave him a sense of satisfaction.

'_Strange.' _

Sasuke began to walk again and Hinata followed, speaking to him again.

"Was Neji the one who told you to guard the flag?" she asked, swinging her arms slightly.

Sasuke nodded. He knew she already knew the answer to her own question.

Sasuke didn't look at her face, but he could tell she was smiling to herself.

'_What a strange girl…' _the avenger thought, looking straight ahead, _'She's so different.' _

He kept a steady pace through the forest, heading back to the cave. Her chakra was still low so he walked slowly. Occasionally he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She was walking a step behind his, swinging her arms gently, as if playing a lullaby in her head. Her feet were a bit steadier now. She wasn't stumbling as much as before. Their walk was silent, though he couldn't figure out if he should feel awkward or not. Here was a guy and a girl who barely knew each other, walking together through the forest. The sleeping animals were louder than them.

Oddly enough, he didn't feel awkward.

'_Out of place…' _the prodigy thought, _'that's what I'm feeling…' _

Normally, girls were all over him. Calling his name, trying with all their power to get him to like them. Sasuke scrunched up his face in disgust.

'_I wish they would all just… ugh.' _

But Hinata was different. She didn't fawn all over him and say she loved him just because maybe he was good looking. Hinata didn't feel the need to talk like there was no tomorrow. She was just… there.

'_Has she been there all along?' _he wondered, _'Why haven't I noticed before?' _

Sasuke wondered about that as he walked, trying to pick out places he'd gone with his team and the rest of the rookie nine a few years ago until now.

A few images of her appeared here and there in his mind. Times he'd seen Naruto fighting with Kiba… she'd been in the background; her fingers nervously playing with her lip.

'_She never talked much.' _

But when she **did** talk, it would always be to Naruto. Always to his blond, loud mouth teammate. Never to him.

That didn't sit too well with him. Girl **always** talked to him. Why was it that Hinata didn't?

'_Is it because Naruto has something I don't?' _he scowled, _'Is Naruto 'better looking'? Or maybe it's because the 'loud mouth' gets more attention?' _Sasuke wondered, a new anger rising in him.

He pressed his lips together in a hard line and clenched his fists.

'_Damn it! Why does that idiot get the sane one?' _

Suddenly, he felt a soft hand on his arm. He immediately snapped out of his thoughts and turned to look at the owner of the comforting hand; Hinata.

"S-Sasuke,,, a-are you okay?" the Byakugan user asked him gently; a small blush on her pale cheeks.

For a moment, Sasuke didn't say anything. He just gazed at her. Her eyes were slightly wide with concern.

'_Does she really care?' _

The prodigy looked away, his raven black hair falling over his eyes.

"I'm fine," he said flatly.

She lowered her eyes and removed her hand from his arm.

"O-okay, if you say so…"

Sasuke felt a pang of guilt as she pulled her hand away from his and stepped back. That had been the first _'normal'_ human contact he'd had in a while. But he had forced it away just like all the others that tried to become closer to him.

'_No wonder people avoid me… other than girls.' _

Hinata wasn't swinging her arms anymore. Instead, she had her hand up to her mouth, nervously touching her lip again. Sasuke inwardly sighed.

'_I should have just told her.' _

Now she was silent, no longer humming softly either. She was following him because she had to, not because she chose to. Somehow, he wished it was the latter. She didn't speak anymore, but he occasionally felt her eyes dart up and look at him then dart away again. Like somehow she had made a mistake by talking to him.

"Why aren't you talking?" he asked her, refraining from using a sharp tone.

Regardless, she flinched, "W-well I…-"

"Girls **always** have something to talk about," he cut her off, "They never **stop **talking. So what about you?"

She seemed puzzled, "I-I just… don't h-have anything to say."

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow in surprise.

'_Nothing to say? Wow…' _

"You don't have anything to say… are you serious?"

He was astounded; honestly astounded.

Hinata stared at him, seemingly confused.

"Should I have something to say?"

He nodded.

"Most girls do. Sakura and Ino talk like I'm going to die the next day, so the have to talk before I disappear," Sasuke told her with a scowl.

Hinata smiled and she walked up beside him. Things were softening up again.

"You know they do it b-because t-they l-like you, r-right?"

Sasuke stared at her and she gazed back, confused.

'_She stuttered a lot of that one.' _

After a moment of thinking, he responded.

"I know."

"And?" she pressed shyly but eagerly.

"They bother me," he responded without missing a beat.

He steadily turned and began walking away.

After a few meters of dead silence behind him, he turned and looked at Hinata, still rooted to the spot she had been before.

"You know, if we keeping making all these delays we won't make it back," he said flatly, not that he minded too much.

The small girl somewhat ignored him though and proceeded to tell him what she had been thinking.

"How could someone as pretty as Ino or as smart as Sakura but you? I mean… t-they do like to talk but it's only because t-they're fond of y-you…"

"I can't help how I feel," he told her sternly, "I prefer quieter people."

And then, without meaning to, his eyes flashed up to hers and held her gaze. She stared back, her eyes wavering with confusion. He wondered if holding her gaze would get her to clue in.

'_Maybe that's not a good idea,' _he thought, turning reluctantly away.

"Come on," he told her a bit sharply, and she hastened to his side while he began walking again.

"S-Sasuke… I-I have one more question," she admitted.

Sasuke ground his teeth together.

'_One more… she thinks she's bothering me,'_ he thought and he couldn't help but think about what he said before… that girls that talked a lot bugged him. It seemed ironic that she thought it applied to her.

He waited for the question.

"Well um," she began unsteadily, "Why did your team p-put down such dangerous traps?"

Sasuke turned his head to look at her.

"Nobody on our team is particularly good at setting complicated traps," Sasuke told her, speaking his thoughts out loud, "Neji insisted that if we had proper defense then not too many traps would be needed… none of them are particularly fancy or dangerous. Any decent ninja could see them I'm sure."

He was about to continue but a soft, firm hand from Hinata on his arm stopped him.

"S-Sasuke," she murmured, looking at the ground, "I saw a trap… It was on your side. It was so big… I mean… I walked right into it without noticing. T-there were so many kunai I-"

But her rambling was cut off when Sasuke placed a hand over her mouth.

"Did you spring it?" he asked quietly.

She shook her head, his hand still on her mouth.

"Did you see anyone near it?"

She shook her head again.

"Take me to it," he demanded as he pulled his hand back.

"But w-what about-"

"The game doesn't matter now," he chopped her sentence short, "None of our traps were more complicated than a string and a net. This is a problem if the trap you say you saw is really as big as you make it out to be," he growled through his teeth.

Suddenly she seemed to clue in to what he was getting at and she pointed quickly back to where the came from.

"This way," she told him, starting to run.

He followed at her heels, though it was a slow pace.

'_She's still exhausted,' _he thought, watching her graceful but tired run.

Before he even realized what he was doing, he ran up closely behind her and swiftly swooped her legs out from under her and gathered the small girl up in his arms.

"W-what are you d-doing… you don't n-need to-" but she couldn't' get the words out properly.

Blood rushed to her cheeks.

"I don't mind," Sasuke told her; it was the truth, "It's not like you're heavy."

It was as close as a compliment as he would get.

She felt her soft gaze on his as he tried to run gently. There was a moment's silence as the forest passed them by,

"Just say it," Hinata sighed with a smile and Sasuke almost when she laid her head on his chest.

His heart twisted in restraint… or was it release?

"Say what?" he asked, trying with a little success to hold his voice steady.

"I was slowing you down," she mumbled into his chest but her voice had a smile in it.

"At least you admit it," he said with a smirk as he took a glance down at her, "but don't worry… _Everyone_ slows me down," he said in a teasing, smug voice.

She laughed into his chest.

In truth, he wondered if he'd even been able to run fast in his life.

He felt so light.

**End of Chapter 6**

Hi again. I really hope that you all liked that really long chapter. : ) It makes up for my tardiness. Please R&R and I'll try to write the next chapter when I get the chance. Then halfdemon-kai can get it out for you. : )

_**halfdemon-kai- **__So yeah, all spelling mistakes and what not, blame them on me 'cause I was up late typing this and I had a six and a half hour shift at work so I'm sure that there are some to be pointed out. :D _


	7. Ringing of the Past

_**halfdemon-kai – **__Hey everyone! How are you all doing? I hope you're all well since the last time this has been updated. Even though in this happy moment of the finally poster chapter 7, I have some sad, upsetting news. __**Undone-and-unlocked**__ (formally known as __**ShiningSilver**__) has lost her interest in Naruto. She started chapter 7 because I kept nagging at her and she got halfway before giving it to me and saying 'it's up to you now'. Not in so many words… but still. _

_The duty of this fanfic being finished has fallen onto me. I know the path that __**Undone-and-unlocked**__ wanted to take with this, I know what she had planned to happen, so it'll still be the same storyline and everything, just in different words. We have agreed on the ending too. So yay. Lol. _

_Even with this really long delayed chapter, and it being written at the end by someone else, we both hope that you still enjoy what you read. Thank you for reading and reviewing, it's appreciated. :3 _

_Enjoy_

**Ringing of the Past**

* * *

_**Hinata's P.o.v.**_

She watched the Uchiha quietly as his dark eyes assessed the enormous trap. He seemed unable to comprehend how it had got there. But then again, she was just as confused as him when it came to the matter.

Finally he lowered his gaze and turned to her. She shook her head worriedly.

"What should we do? R-report it to our sensei's? M-maybe even the H-hokage…"

His response came in the form of a stiff nod. "But we should do something first…"

Hinata eyed him worriedly, not wanting to have to stay near the trap any longer than absolutely necessary.

"Okay…w-what is it?"

His tone told her he was sure of himself. "We should spring it."

The Hyuga heiress' eyes widened in shock as she tried to frantically to protest to the insane idea. Why in the world why he want to do that?

"N-no…it's dangerous…"

He noticed her reluctance right away and his black eyes narrowed at the trap in front of him. "Think about it, what if we left this here and someone sprung it while we were away?" he told her flatly.

Immediately she saw his logic and felt stupid. Just because she was afraid and had run away without much thought about the aftermath, didn't mean he was going to lose his sense of priority. He was right… and in the long run it was a much better course of action.

"Y-yes…" she replied quietly, "You're right…I'm sorry…"

Sasuke turned his gaze to her, seemingly surprised even though his face remained blank.

"You're _sorry_?" he asked carefully, "What_ for_?"

Hinata pushed her eyebrows together. "I just…d-didn't think it through…" she admitted while rubbing her hands together anxiously.

He let out the quietest of chuckles. "No you did. You're just not crazy…" he answered as he reached into his pouch and withdrew a shuriken.

She was barely able to hear his next words as the seconds ticked by and he observed the trap that lay dangerously dormant in front of them both.

"You're just not… looking for death…"

Her violet eyes widened as she comprehended what he said. Had she just heard that right?

'_Looking for death? Don't tell me…_' she wondered as she watched the stoic form of the avenger. He seemed so closed off….so…._lonely_.

"S-Sasuke-" she began but he cut her off.

"—Take cover. Now," he commanded as he readied the shuriken loosely between his fingers. "I won't be held responsible for any injury that comes to you…"

Hinata sighed quietly, feeling helpless like usual and retreated a few steps backward, behind the protection of a large tree.

"B-be careful…p-please…" she said, wringing her hands again, though she was sure she was supposed to have outgrown the stupid habit by now.

He nodded slowly, not looking back and she heard the distinct clinking of the shuriken as he prepared to launch it. His arm pulled back…

Suddenly - halting his throw - came a thundering sound of a bell, coming from the direction of the village. It's ringing pulsated around them both, causing her to jump and collapse her hands over her ears in frightened bewilderment.

'_The village's emergency signal?_' she wondered, allowing her eye to inch open.

What she saw was Sasuke kneeling on his knees, clutching oddly at himself, eyes completely wide.

"S-Sasuke…?" she murmured under the repetitive roar of the distant bell. He didn't seem to hear her though, or maybe he simply didn't care at the moment.

Shakily behind the tree and in confusion, her eyes swept to the trap, thinking that maybe he had accidentally sprung it and got himself hit…but the trap was still in tack…all the kunai still hanging silently.

"Ugh!" Sasuke choked, his pale hands now clutching at his own head, almost tearing.

Hinata's violet eyes went wide as she watched him.

He was so…frightened…?

"Sasuke…" she whispered in her own fear as she removed herself from behind the protective tree and moved over to his side.

"W-What's wrong…?" she asked nervously as her hand fell onto his shaking shoulder. How could a sound cause this within him? What touched him so deeply?

The moment her hand made contact with him, he stiffened and then jerked away –Sharingan suddenly piercing her.

She flinched too, and immediately pulled back in surprise. She shook her head imploringly at him.

"P-please! I'm not going to hurt you…" she told him quietly, trying to calm the suddenly overcome Uchiha.

He breathed deeply, his gaze wide and holding her own in terror.

'_I've…never seen him like this…'_

Suddenly - though his face didn't change - he spoke.

"T-they're coming!" he yelled, bordering on hysteria. She straightened herself slowly, trying not to startle him into attacking her.

"W-who?" she asked quietly.

"My brother… Itachi! The Akatsuki!"

She raised a hand to her mouth and jumped in immediate fright. There was no way that could be.

And yet somehow…she believed him. There was that undeniable terror in his eyes, that complete understanding of what was coming…and what was yet to come. There was no way to doubt that silent knowledge.

Suddenly she couldn't stop herself and she whirled, about to dash back to the village.

'_They're in danger! All of them!'_

A crushing hand grabbed hold of her wrist in a second flat, before she had even taken a step and dragged her back. Her eyes flicked to Sasuke's piercing red ones in astonishment. Why was he stopping her from rushing to her friends?

"Let go!" she yelled, surprised to find her own quivering voice unusually steady.

"No! What are you doing!?" he yelled.

"I have to go back! Tenten! Suzu! They are all back there!"

He was already dragging her against her will. "They are ninja too! They can take care of themselves! We have to get away from here! There is no time left!"

"W-what are you talking about? I need to—"

"You don't understand! We need to move now! That was the same bell that sounded when my family was massacred! Move!" he yelled and then suddenly her own dragging feet weren't enough to stop him from yanking her into a run.

"B-But we can't just leave them!" she cried, feeling the tears begin to well up in anxiousness.

"That bell sounds only in emergencies! It tells us stay away…I'm not…we're not strong enough to take them! Your friends will know what it means too! You'll just be in the way!"

She shook her head as she ran now, not believing that she was listening and following the crazed Uchiha through the shadowed forest.

"Why are…t-they here?" she whispered as the wind whipped through her hair, dried her tears.

"I don't know. My guess is that they want something," he trailed off harshly. "We can't fight them now though."

Regrettably, she agreed. She was not strong enough…not yet.

How did this playful game of capture the flag…turn into a horrifying version of cat and mouse?

Hinata followed the Uchiha as he led the way through the forest. He was going towards the outskirts of the village… away from her friends. She hated the idea that she was just leaving them, but she knew they were strong. They could handle escaping.

"W-what do you think they're after?" she asked as she followed after Sasuke.

She was a little behind him since he was so much faster.

"There's a reason," he stated flatly, "There's always a reason."

The bell was loud and it gave off a… frantic sound. Just by hearing it a person could hear the urgency. This was serious.

'_I wonder what must be going through Sasuke's head…' _

She could tell by his reaction to the sound of the bell that dark memories must have been running through his head. The massacre… his family's slaughter… What must that have been like? What must it have been like… to have nothing left but yourself?

Hinata's violet eyes dropped to a more solemn expression at the though. Sasuke wasn't the only one who that nothing left. Her ice haired friend was another.

'_No wonder he looked so lonely…'_

The Hyuga heiress picked up her pace. This was an urgent situation. There was no time for lingering thoughts.

"W-where are we going?" she asked as she closed the distance a little more.

"We'll go to the neighboring village for a few days," he explained, "We'll regroup before heading back."

She nodded her head. It sounded like a plan, and she hoped that her friends would have a similar one.

* * *

Tenten came out of the cave with the flag and her eyes widened slightly at the sound of the bell.

"Why would they sound that?" she wondered, looking around slightly with confusion.

She knew it wasn't the winning bell. She knew it was the village's emergency signal. Shaking her head slightly, she began walking to leave the area and the village.

She was tackled to the ground by someone and she looked up with furrowed brows. Why would the game continue if the bell was ringing?

"What are you-"

"You idiot," Neji's cold voice stated simply as his light eyes looked down at her.

She was pinned to the ground underneath him.

"What are you talking about?" Tenten asked, even more confused.

She hadn't done anything wrong.

"You almost walked right into a trap," he stated as he got to his feet, "You should watch where you're going from now on."

The brunette propped herself up to see what the Hyuga was talking about.

There was a ring of kunai in a full circle around the area; pointing directly to where she would have stepped. Neji had saved her life.

"Oh," she whispered, blushing slightly at her mistake.

"Come on," Neji stated as he turned to the direction to leave, "We have to leave the village now."

Tenten got to her feet and they both began running towards the neighboring town.

"What do you think is going on?" she asked with a cocked brow.

This had never happened before… not for a long time.

"Whatever's happening is serious. Fate has decided that this game has come to a tie and that it is to be delayed," he stated without looking back at her.

At Neji's words of a tie, Tenten's eyes looked to his side to see what he was talking about. There was the girl's team flag tied right to his side.

"I see," she smirked slightly, "I think you want a future challenge."

"I merely wish for a future victory."

Tenten smiled slightly at those words. Who knew, maybe she would get her chance to see how she would fair against Neji on real terms.

* * *

Hinata sat on the steps as she waited for Sasuke to come back. When they had arrived early in the morning, they had eaten before anything. There were a few people here from the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The sounding of the bell must have caused quite a scare in the village. The last time something like this happened… the third Hokage had been killed.

Footsteps walked around her, but she lifted her head when a group of feet stopped in front of her.

"Hey Hinata," Tenten greeted with a smile on her face and a small wave, "I was worried that something might have happened to you."

"T-Tenten!" Hinata exclaimed as she immediately hugged her friend, "I'm so sorry."

"For what?" the brunette asked with confusion.

"F-for not coming back to look for you," the Hyuga heiress said quietly.

"It's alright, we all got out safely," Tenten assured her, "Most of us are accounted for."

Hinata released her friend and looked up at her with confusion.

'_Most of us?' _

Sasuke returned to the stairs with his hands in his short's pockets.

"So you made it out too huh Sasuke?" Naruto asked as he ran to his friend's side.

"Can it Naruto," the Uchiha muttered with furrowed brows.

The blond made a face at Sasuke's comment, but didn't open his mouth. After being on Sasuke's team for so long, he learned that sometimes he had to keep his mouth shut.

Hinata looked at the group of her friends that stood in front of her. Tenten, Sakura, Shino, Neji, Gaara, Temari, Ino, Naruto, Chouji, and Shikamaru were all present. Her violent eyes turned to concern though when they landed on Shikamaru. Kiba was on his back unconscious and Akamaru was lying on Kiba's head. The small dog must have been as worried as she was.

Her eyes scanned the group again and she was confused when she didn't see her ice haired friend.

'_Where is Suzu? Wasn't she with Kiba?' _

"We have hotel rooms for a couple nights," Sasuke stated, "The guys can stay in one room and the girls in the other."

There were a few groans from the guys about having to share and the girls didn't have a problem.

Sasuke turned and left without a word. Then other people in the group split off; Shikamaru going to the hotel. Soon it was only Tenten standing with her and they both sat back down on the steps.

"What happened to Kiba?" Hinata asked with some confusion.

"I actually don't really know," Tenten admitted with a small shrug, "Shikamaru and Chouji were on their way after the bell went off and found him there with Akamaru."

Their eyes stared forward as different thoughts went through their minds. What could have happened?

'_Then Suzu wasn't there…' _

"Have you seen Suzu at all?" Tenten asked with a slightly cocked brow.

The Hyuga heiress looked towards her brunette friend with concern. The last time she saw Suzu was when she had been fighting Kiba.

"Not s-since she was fighting with K-Kiba," the small kunoichi said quietly, not looking away from her friend.

She couldn't hide the panic in her voice. If it had really been the Akatsuki and she had crossed paths with them...

"Me neither," Tenten murmured rather thoughtfully.

"S-Sasuke said it was the A-Akatsuki that attacked… What if Suzu came across them?" Hinata asked with worry.

She couldn't even believe the thought of it. It felt un-comprehendible.

Tenten's expression seemed be surprised with those words.

"S-she never was o-one to back down from a fight," the small Hyuga whispered, picturing it all in her head.

"Don't get ahead of your self Hinata," Tenten told her with a small smile, "Even if she did come across Akatsuki out there, there's no way that she would give up and die like that. She's strong, Hinata. She can handle herself on her own."

Hinata was welcoming the idea of that. How could she doubt a friend like that?

"She's probably back and waiting at the village already. We'll get to the gate and she'll be waiting there with that proud smirk of hers," Tenten laughed slightly.

Hinata smiled slightly at the idea, but she said a little prayer in her head just in case.

'_**Please Suzu… Please come home safe.' **_

**End of Chapter 7**

_**halfdemon-kai – **__So, was it alright even for its long delayed-ness? I hope it was. We both hope that you enjoyed reading, and __**I **__hope that you won't lose interest just because I'm writing it instead. My sincere apologies for the wait and any mistakes and for __**Undone-and-unlocked**__'s__loss of interest in Naruto. _

_Please R&R and I'll be working on the next chapter once I get the chance. :3 _


	8. Forgotten

_**halfdemon-kai**_: _Hello everyone! I'm finally updating this for you guys. –dances—Lol. It's getting closer and closer to the holidays so I'm updating for everyone. Well… more than usual. I worked hard on this chapter and I'm really sorry if it jumps around a bit. My apologies. _

_Please enjoy the not too delayed chapter 8. :3 _

**Forgotten**

Hinata knocked on the door of the guy's door quietly. Sasuke had been the one to tell her that Kiba had woken up only a few hours ago. It had been over a day since they had arrived at the small village.

"Hello?" his rough voice asked from inside the room.

"Um… K-Kiba, can I uh…come in?" she asked nervously.

"Hinata?" he questioned with some confusion.

"Yes."

"Come on in," he told her; his tone sounding happier.

The Hyuga heiress slowly opened the door and saw that he was the only one inside.

'_Everyone else must be out doing things…' _

"What's on your mind, Hinata?" Kiba asked with a slightly grin on his face.

"I wanted to see how you w-were feeling," she replied quietly.

Her violet eyes caught his brows furrow slightly.

"Kiba?" she questioned with confusion.

"What's wrong?" he asked her; worried.

Her back straightened slightly with being caught. She **had **come to see if he was alright… but she had also come for another reason. She didn't know why… but Hinata couldn't shake the feeling that something really **was** wrong.

"Hinata… you know you can tell me anything," he told her, his tone assuring.

"I-I know. It's just… I don't know if you have an answer…" the Hyuga heiress murmured quietly.

'_No one seems to have an answer…' _She thought solemnly to herself.

"…An answer to what?" Kiba wondered with confusion.

"D-do you know w-where Suzu is?"

His eyes widened at the question. As far as she knew so far, Kiba had been the last person so see Suzu. If she spoke dog she'd have asked Akamaru as well.

"She's not here?" he asked her with a confusion expression.

"N-no… You were the l-last person to s-see her…" Hinata trailed off quietly.

Kiba's brows furrowed as it looked like he was trying to remember.

"I don't even remember what happened," he admitted shamefully, "We were fighting and then something knocked me out… It's all blank."

"Was it her?" she asked him almost immediately.

Kiba looked up at Hinata and she could see the anguish on his face.

"I don't think it was… but it's all fuzzy. I have no idea," he told her.

Hinata's expression dropped slightly.

'_I guess she really could be anywhere...'_

Akamaru barked at Kiba and he looked down with curiosity.

"Yeah, you're right Akamaru," he nodded.

"W-what?" Hinata asked with confusion.

"Suzu can take care of herself. She's probably camping out in the forest until all the noise has passed. She'd rather be out there than in a town," Kiba told her with a grin, "Maybe she's asking us to have a little faith in her."

With Kiba's explanation, Hinata smiled slightly. That sounded like Suzu… but the feeling was still there all the same. It was strange.

* * *

They were all cautious the next day on the way back to the Hidden Leaf Village. Most of them had recovered fully and regained all the chakra they had lost, so they were ready to fight if they had to.

Their feet went quickly across the tree branches, in a hurry to get back to the village. No one knew how much damage had been dealt in the time that they had been done. That was probably what bothered them all the most.

None were being followed… none had been ambushed by the time they had returned to the Hidden Leaf. No one was waiting at that gate either.

"Well at least the village is still standing," Kiba stated from beside Hinata, "Nothing too bad must have happened."

"Yeah," Ino agreed, "Probably just a false alarm or something."

'…_A false alarm?'_ Hinata herself rather doubtfully, _'That trap was real… and Sasuke seemed so sure that it was the Akatsuki…' _

"I doubt that it was a false alarm," Tenten cut in, "They wouldn't sound the alarm for nothing."

Stopping at the gate, Hinata could feel someone's eyes on her. Her violet orbs looked around until they locked with Sasuke's. He seemed to be thinking about something… almost as if he was asking her if she had really believed him or not.

'_Are we the only two that are tied into this?' _

"Lady Tsunade, the Genin have returned!" a shinobi called from the gate.

The blond haired Hokage appeared at the gate and looked at all the returning Genin with slightly furrowed brows. By her expression… Hinata could tell that this really was a serious situation.

"Are all of you accounted for?" Tsunade asked over everyone.

"Most of us," Shikamaru stated; being the only Chunnin amongst them, "How many came back here already?"

"Hey! Who said that you got to be in charge?" Naruto called out with frustration

"Can it Naruto," Sasuke demanded.

Tsunade thought about Shikamaru's question for a few moments.

"About twelve others," she stated.

"Then that means one person's still missing," Shikamaru murmured thoughtfully, having done the math in his head.

'_Oh no… Suzu…' _

Hinata could feel the panic rushing through her beating heart. What if Suzu really was the one that was missing? If she had been found by the Akatsuki Hinata knew she would have put up a fight… but that didn't mean that she would have lived through it. A band of missing Nin wouldn't take it easy on a Genin standing in their way.

Tsunade looked at Shikamaru intently before looking at all of the Genin.

"The Hidden Leaf Village was invaded only a few nights ago," she started to explain, "The alarm was sounded to allow all villagers to retreat to safety and it had cut your training short. No one was fatally harmed, so all your families are safe.

"However, we don't know if the invaders will return. So please, keep on your toes and do not leave the village unless it is absolutely necessary," the blond Hokage finished with the serious expression still on her face.

There was murmuring amongst the Genin and it made Hinata worry.

'_Lady Tsunade knows more about this then she's saying… She knows who it was and what they were after…' _

"All of you can return home."

Hinata's expression fell as her and her two friends walked slowly into the village.

When they were past the gate and Tsunade was too far for hearing, Kiba seemed to have something to say.

"That was a nice act, don't you think?" he asked aloud.

"Yeah really," Tenten agreed, "They all probably know what's going on. The Sensei's won't tell us."

"No kidding," Kiba scoffed.

"Y-you guys s-saw it too?" Hinata asked with confusion.

"Definitely," Tenten laughed slightly.

"Don't leave the village my ass," Kiba scoffed, "It's probably safer out there than in here."

Hinata looked at both of her friends curiously. By their expressions it seemed like they all had the same thing in mind.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying Kiba?" Tenten asked with a slight smirk.

"Depends on what you think I'm saying," he mused.

"That we s-should inspect the f-forest?" Hinata asked rather hopefully.

"That's **exactly **what I'm saying."

"Funny," Tenten mused, "That's what I was thinking."

"Tonight or tomorrow?" he wondered, looking at both girls.

"Tonight," both Hinata and Tenten said at the same time.

"Agreed."

* * *

Hinata peered down the hallway silently. No one was there in the pale darkness. The moon was up, lighting her way completely.

'_A good night to search. It's good that no one's coming.' _

A smile crept to her face as she silently left the Hyuga estate. They wouldn't get caught.

On the street, she walked rather quickly; in a rush to get to the meeting point.

"Where are you going?" a cold voice asked from behind her.

Immediately she froze with surprise.

'_S-Sasuke?' _

"N-nowhere," she replied, lying weakly.

"'Cause sneaking around at night is totally your thing," he stated rather sarcastically.

The Hyuga heiress's fingers played with the edge of her jacket slightly. She had been caught and had no excuse to lie with.

"I'll come with you," Sasuke stated emotionlessly, walking to be in front of her, "It's too dangerous for you to go alone."

"B-but-"

"No excuses," he stated, "You're not the only one interested in finding out what they were after."

A slight blush found its way to the small kunoichi's face.

When they got to the gate, Tenten seemed to groan when he saw them.

"What is **he** doing here?" she asked with some agitation.

"Looking, just like you," Sasuke stated coldly.

"You're not even her friend, so why does it matter to you?" the brunette asked with furrowed brows.

"My reasons are different from yours."

"Whatever."

"Let's just do this before they notice we're not in bed," Kiba stated, turning to go out the gate.

Hinata ran a little to catch up to Kiba. He seemed to be the only other one that didn't want to get distracted.

'_Sasuke just wants to know what the Akatsuki was after… He's not here to help find Suzu…' _she thought solemnly to herself.

The forest wasn't too far from the village. When they got there all the tension was gone and all four of them were relatively silent.

"Should we split up?" Tenten asked quietly.

"Groups of two," Kiba stated.

"I-I'll go with T-Tenten," Hinata stated with a small smile.

No matter how intent she was on finding her ice haired friend, keeping Sasuke and Tenten from arguing the entire time seemed like a good idea.

"Alright," Kiba stated, "Come on Akamaru, let's go."

The two boys walked off in the opposite direction.

'_Good luck,' _Hinata wished hopefully.

_**Sasuke's P.O.V.**_

His dark eyes looked around the forested area; scanning almost everything. So far he hadn't seen anymore large scaled traps. There had been a few small ones though; small enough to wound at the worst.

"Why are you looking for that girl?" the Uchiha asked with slight curiosity.

The girl was strange… something about her appearance and demeanor bothered him. When she had used her ice spear jutsu… it made him think more on her existence than he would have enjoyed. She had always been invisible before, just like the Hyuga girl.

"Because she's my friend," Kiba stated like Sasuke was stupid, "Why else?"

"A friend worth risking your life over?" Sasuke asked.

"Hell yeah," Kiba laughed, "You have no idea."

The Uchiha didn't understand the friendship. He would have thought that both the ice haired girl's cockiness and Kiba's would have clashed.

'_Guess I'm wrong. Maybe they have more in common than I can see…' _he thought to himself as they continued through the forest.

"This is about the spot," Kiba stated as he stopped suddenly.

Sasuke stopped immediately with those words.

He watched as Akamaru started to sniff the ground for any trace.

"Why are you here?" Kiba asked Sasuke, "Why would Suzu matter to you?"

"The girl doesn't," the Uchiha stated, "Revenge does."

"Ever think revenge isn't worth living your life for?" Kiba asked with a slightly cocked brow.

Before Sasuke could reply, he was cut off by Akamaru's immediate barking.

* * *

Kiba ran as fast as he could through the trees, following Akamaru closely.

"She's close… I can smell it," he muttered to himself.

Akamaru's barking had caused him to immediately take off; leaving the Uchiha behind. By the sound of it, he wasn't following.

They came to a small opening and his eyes landed directly on the opposite side. The moonlight made it hard to miss the ice coloured hair as it shown off of it. Kiba ran to about the middle before icicles stabbed into the ground before his feet. Akamaru started growling at the motion.

"…Suzu?" Kiba questioned with confusion.

How could he have no been confused? Suzu was his friend… a close friend… and she was attacking him? That didn't make sense. He watched as she jumped down from the tree branch and walked forward.

"Good to see you're alive and well," her voice stated coldly; almost sarcastically.

Kiba's brows furrowed as he caught sight of her eyes in the shadows. They were red.

Instinctively he drew a kunai.

"Who are you?" he growled at her.

Suzu stepped out into the moonlight and he saw her eyes change from red to their natural golden amber.

"Glad to see you remember me too," she scoffed, shaking her head slightly.

Kiba faltered for a few moments. Suzu's eyes didn't do that… did they?

"Suzu, why haven't you come back to the village yet?" he asked her with a form of anguish in his voice.

Things were fine in the village, she should have known that. If she hadn't returned yet… it felt like a form of betrayal. What had she been doing all this time?

"Why should I?" the ice haired girl asked coldly, "You don't even remember who I am."

His brows furrowed slightly at her appearance. She had cut her hair short at the back again. The last time she had done that was before the Chunnin exams… a time where she would fight.

"I know who you are Suzu!" he told her with slightly clenched fists, "No one has a scent like you do."

"You know my name," she stated, golden orbs locked with his, "You know nothing about me."

"Yes I do-"

"Then why would you have been so confused when you saw me? After all this time I thought you would have figured it out."

Suzu was talking in riddles. What she was saying wasn't making sense… There was something wrong with her.

Before he could question her, Sasuke broke through the trees and a whistle was heard. He saw her look in the whistle's direction and she seemed to scowl.

"Don't follow me."

He was frozen in place as he watched her take off ahead of him. Within a few moments she disappeared completely through the trees.

"Figured what out?" he muttered to himself.

Kiba was brought out of though when Sasuke placed a hand on his shoulder.

"At the moment I don't think she wants to be found," the Uchiha stated quietly before turning to go back to meet Hinata and Tenten, "You're lucky she stopped you there. A few more steps and you would have been dead."

Kiba snapped out of his daze and looked on the ground a few feet ahead of him.

Not even a foot ahead of the melted icicles was a clear thread attached to perfectly aimed kunai.

"Yeah," he scoffed, "lucky…"

**End of Chapter 8**

_**halfdemon-kai: **So how was that for everyone's tastes? I hope it was good. I kind of liked that chapter. Semi cliffhanger too. Lol. Thank you for reading, and a __**Undone-and-unlocked**__ would say, please leave us some love. :3 _


	9. Chapter 9

_Hey, I know that it's been a really long time, I'm hoping that there are still people interested in reading this story. Thanks for all being here! _

_Please enjoy!_

_**Chapter 9**_

He had followed close behind Sasuke; his brows pushed together in frustration. He didn't understand what Suzu had been talking about. He had known her for more than a year, spoke with her as a dear friend, and they strived for the same thing; the protection of their friends. How could he _not _know who she was?

'_Let alone forget her…'_ he thought; his brows furrowing further.

He held her so close to him and she was an important part of his life.

"How could she say those things?" he murmured lowly.

Ahead of him Sasuke stopped walking and turned toward him; his face emotionless like usual. How did he manage to stay so calm in a situation like this?

"I don't know what she said to you, but I will tell you this now," the Uchiha stated seriously, "If she has been taken by the Akatsuki, then the chances are that she is being manipulated by them."

Kiba turned his head to the side at what he was hearing. Doing something like that wouldn't be such an easy task with someone like Suzu. Her will was strong and she didn't give up… She would fight until her last breath if she had to.

"You may feel as if you've been betrayed, but if she was truly gone then she would have allowed you to walk into that trap. If she truly wished to betray you, you would be dead," the dark haired boy continued before turning to continue walking, "Let's go before we get caught."

Sasuke was right; if Suzu wanting him dead then he would already be so.

'_I just don't understand what's going on through her head right now…' _he thought solemnly to himself.

They continued on until Akamaru's bark caught their attention. Both males got ready to strike as two people appeared before them; catching them by surprise. Both Iruka and Kakashi stood there with serious expressions on their faces.

"Well, what do we have here?" Kakashi wondered, watching them intently.

"We told you to stay within the village's walls," Iruka stated with some frustration, "Why are you out here in the middle of the night?"

Kiba's eyes narrowed at being scolded. They wouldn't be able to make him feel guilty for being out here. He knew that he was in the right to be out looking for his friend.

"Well?" Iruka demanded, crossing his arms.

"It's called being a good friend," Kiba nearly hissed, his hands clenching into fists, "Every sensei knows what happened in the village the other night and we're expected to go on as if nothing even happened?"

His jaw tightened as he could feel his frustration burning within him. Why did they have to be kept in the dark?

"He's right," Sasuke agreed, turning to look at his sensei, "Why must we be kept out of something like this?"

"Don't pretend like you care," Tenten's voice called through the trees.

Both her and Hinata appeared with Guy and Kurenai at their sides.

"You didn't come here because of Suzu," the brunette continued.

"T-Tenten…" Hinata tried to interrupt.

There were a few moments of awkward silence before Kakashi sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

"That's enough arguing," he told them, shaking his head; "I guess we don't really have a choice but to take you to see the Hokage herself."

"So you're going to ignore us?" Tenten asked with what sounded like disbelief, speaking the thoughts they had all been thinking.

"I never said that," Kakashi sighed again.

"You have all disobeyed orders from your Hokage," Kurenai told them calmly, shaking her head, "It's only fair for you to speak your minds to her directly."

Kiba, Tenten, and Hinata looked at each other with some worry. If they brought their complaints to the Hokage it was possible for them to be heard and to finally get some answers. There was also the probability for them to be ignored all together…

"Come," the sensei ordered before disappearing into the night.

* * *

Hinata's hands played and tugged at the sleeves of her jacket as they stood before the eyes of the Hokage. Lady Tsunade's eyes were serious as she leaned on her desk facing them. The room was also full of all the teams' sensei; all present for this form of meeting. Hinata found herself glancing around nervously with all the eyes in the room.

"I hear that you all have things to say to me," the blond woman stated, leaning back into her chair, "Well, what is it?"

Hinata turned her eyes to Kiba with concern. Would he speak his thoughts again like he had before?

She had noticed on their way to meet with the Hokage that something was wearing on him. Had something happened while they had all been out searching?

"Out with it!" lady Tsunade demanded; her brows pushing together in impatience.

"We want to know what happened the other night," Tenten stated, not backing down because of the Hokage's tone, "The only person missing out of every genin that had been out in those woods is Suzu. As we are the closest people to her, we should have the right to know where she is."

A small smile graced Hinata's face at her friend's determination. They were Suzu's family. They deserved to know what happened to her.

"Then what is your purpose for being here Uchiha Sasuke?" the Hokage questioned, turning her eyes to be on him, "As I recall you were never close to anyone outside of your own team."

The Uchiha closed his eyes before crossing his arms. If his reason for being here wasn't their friend, would he still be allowed to stay?

"If this involves the Akatsuki and my brother, then I want to know everything," he told them, his eye becoming Sharingan as he opened them.

A sigh from Kakashi could be heard to the side. This was proof that his student wasn't over his desire for revenge. Hinata secretly wondered if he ever would.

"As genin, do you really believe that you can demand such answers in a serious situation like this?" lady Tsunade wondered, once again leaning on her desk.

"We may just be genin, Hokage," Tenten stated coldly, "but we are still ninja ready to defend our village at any cost."

Those words seemed to bring a smirk to the Hokage's face being she rose out of her chair.

Hinata held her breath as lady Tsunade turned away from them to face her window. With this many people in the room the silence was almost deafening.

'_Please… Please tell us the truth…' _Hinata silently begged, her fingers pulling tighter at the ends of her sleeves.

"I suppose that you will uncover the truth in the end whether I tell you now or not," the Hokage mused, shaking her head the slightest bit, "Very well."

As she turned back to face them her face was serious and grim; her golden eyes intent as they stared in their direction.

"I'm sure that you are aware that Suzu has indeed been marked MIA due to recent events, though we believe that she is still alive."

With that the Hyuga heiress released the breath that she had been holding. From the corner of her eye she caught Kiba's head turn away as lady Tsunade continued to speak.

'_Does he know something?'_

Beside her Tenten had also visibly released a held breath with relief. It was good to know that their friend was still alive.

"Around this time last year Suzu had been sent on an information gathering mission… information on certain missing nin within the Akatsuki," lady Tsunade explained, placing her hands in front of her on her desk.

Hinata's eyed widened. She remembered wishing her friend a safe journey on the day she had left.

"W-why would you send her to f-find information on the A-Akatsuki?" she asked aloud, confusion lacing her tone.

Surely there had to have been more skilled ninjas to be chosen for such a task…

"It was an opportunity for her to expand her range," Kakashi cut in to answer, "She had always said she had wanted to be an Anbu. It was a chance for her to experience something of the same field."

The pale eyed girl looked at the sensei with some disbelief. How could they have known that she would have been strong enough for a mission like that?

"It's a risk we all take when we accept a mission," Sasuke stated with a knowing tone, "We know that we may not make it back alive."

Her brows pushed together as her gaze fell to the floor. Of course he was right. They all knew the risks when they had taken this path.

"We think that some of the Akatsuki had managed to catch word of Suzu's mission and watched as she progressed in gathering information," the Hokage continued, pulling out a large stack of papers and placing them on her desk, "As you can see, your friend got more than her fair share."

Seeing the stack of papers, Hinata could help but feel a small feeling of pride in her friend, but also the feel of guilt for not believing in her more.

'_How could I ever doubt her?' _she asked herself, turning her pale gaze back to the Hokage.

"They know what Suzu is capable of doing and the strength that she already possesses as a genin and we believe that they also saw many possibilities in her future progression," lady Tsunade said with what sounded like regret, "Unfortunately we were unable to foresee the Akatsuki using your training session as an opportunity to strike."

It was if their worst thoughts had come to light and they were being forced to look upon them. They knew that Suzu had been taken into captivity. It could only be either that or death…

'_At least she's still alive,' _Hinata tried to think positively.

"If there is any information that any of you have that could shed any light on this situation, I have to ask for you to surrender it now," the Hokage continued, "Any word of this incident must not be discussed with anyone outside of this room in fear of causing further panic within the village."

Hinata's head hung low with regret. There was nothing she knew that could offer any help.

"She's alive and physically unharmed," Kiba said; his tone dull and low.

All eyes in the room turned to him and his fists were clenched tightly at his sides.

"I saw her tonight in the forest… She was saying strange things about me not knowing anything about her…" the brunette boy struggled to explain, shaking his head as if to clear it, "A whistle called to her and she left, telling me not to follow her."

Hinata's heart raced in her chest at her friend's explanation. Kiba had seen her and she had just turned away from him?

"You saw her?" Tenten asked with disbelief, "Are you sure it was really her?"

"I would be able to tell that scent apart from anyone else's," Kiba nearly hissed, "Of course it was her. I would bet all of my chakra to be proven wrong."

"She stopped him from walking into a trap set to kill," Sasuke stated, turning his now dark eyes to Tenten, "If it were an imposter then they would have let him walk into it and die."

"I don't understand why she would just leave you there though," Tenten nearly murmured.

"This doesn't sound promising," lady Tsunade stated, turning her eyes in the direction of the sensei, "We need to set off every trap in that forest, otherwise some unsuspecting fools will walk right into them."

She then turned her gaze back onto the four genin standing tired and concerned before her.

"Kiba and Sasuke, you will show them where this trap was, as well as any others that you may know of. Stay out there the rest of the night if you have to."

"Yes lady Hokage," they both agreed before turning to leave the room.

With a heavy heart, Hinata glanced at Tenten before turning to leave the room as well. They hadn't learned more than what had already crossed their minds…

"Kakashi, Hinata, and Tenten, I have things to further discuss with you," lady Tsunade called after them, halting their steps.

As everyone else had left the room, the Hokage one again sat down into her chair.

"The three of you are the only people in the village, other than myself, that know Suzu belongs to the Uchiha clan," she said contemplatively, her eyes closing for a moment, "That is why I wished to discuss this with you all alone."

Both Hinata and Tenten looked at each other with some confusion. What did her being an Uchiha have to do with anything?

"As I'm sure you are aware, Sasuke's brother Itachi is part of the Akatsuki and I can't help but think that he is the reason Suzu had been taken," lady Tsunade explained.

Kakashi sighed and shook his head, "I was hoping you wouldn't say that."

"W-what do you mean?" Hinata questioned with a raised brow.

Lady Tsunade's hands came together on her desk as she let out her own sigh.

"What I mean is that any other member of the Akatsuki would have seen it simple enough to just have her killed for what she knows. Itachi must want her where he can keep a constant eye on her and train her so he knows she will become strong for the bloodline," she stated, her fingers tightening together, "By the time he is done with her, your friend may no longer be there when you get the chance to see her again."

"But that's just training isn't it?" Tenten asked, "How would that make her into a different person?"

"There are different forms of training than the kind we do here in the village," Kakashi explained, "Each sensei has a different style to teach and a way to reach the end. It is most likely that the Akatsuki will take a more cruel and vicious way to train one's body and mind."

"We can't say for sure the circumstances. It is possible that they just want to keep her from Sasuke. I just wanted you to be prepared for what might come in the future."

* * *

Sasuke walked down the street in the dead of night. Most of the village had already made it home to their beds with the exception of the odd drunkard staggering in the streets. His instincts had been right; it had been his brother and the Akatsuki… but he couldn't help but wonder why they would have taken the ice haired girl. It was true that she was strong, but he couldn't make the connection.

Letting out a sigh, he shook his head. After an exhausting few days he knew that he needed to rest.

'_A solid sleep would be nice for once,'_ he thought to himself tiredly.

As he continued to walk his mind drifted and he wondered if the Hyuga girl would be alright after hearing about her friend. If Kiba had been taking the information so roughly, how would someone closer to the ice haired girl feel?

'_Would she bring her worries to Naruto?' _he wondered almost bitterly.

The Uchiha couldn't deny that he had found a new found attraction for the dark haired girl. She was somewhat optimistic and didn't want to give up. A small smirk formed on his face as she thought about their battle in the forest. She had tried so hard even though in the end she knew she would lose. It was almost an admirable trait. He knew that from this point on he would have to keep conversing with her. After all he would have to if he wanted to keep Naruto from noticing what was in front of him.

* * *

She stepped lightly into the darkened cave; her eyes closing without fear. Walking further in she heard footsteps coming as if to greet her. Opening her eyes, they turned cold with disgust as her brows furrowed.

"Welcome back, Suzu," his stoic voice greeted as she stepped out from a corner in the cave.

She glared hatefully in his direction, having remembered his features from when she had been a child. He had been the one responsible for many deaths and loses; especially her own. His was a face that she would never be able to forget… Uchiha Itachi…

"Peace, Suzu," he told her, his blood red orbs of the Sharingan watching her intently, "You know I mean you no harm."

"I have done as you have asked," the ice haired girl stated coldly; ignoring him, "I have told them not to follow me."

Her hand instinctively went for a kunai as Itachi's hand rose in her direction. As it did, there was a tight hold on the back of her shirt and a large wrapped sword at the base of her throat.

"Don't even think about it little girl," a rough voice laughed from behind her, sending chills down her spine.

"Come now Kisame, we don't treat guests that way," Itachi mused, taking the kunai from the girl, "It's not as if she _could_ anyway."

Suzu didn't bother to struggle in fear of what Kisame's sword would do to her if she did. She had heard many things about the one known as Kisame while gathering information in the Land of Waves. It devoured chakra like a shark would a school of fish.

Reluctantly, the ice haired girl raised her hands in surrender. Itachi had been right; there was no way for her to beat either of these missing nin with her current level of strength.

"That's a good girl," Kisame praised as he dropped his sword from her skin.

She dropped her hate filled gaze to the floor. She hated being forced to submit like this, but there was nothing for her to do. They threatened the lives of her friends… threatened to kill Hinata if she didn't do as they asked.

'_Maybe I'll find a chance somewhere… a chance to get away or kill one of these bastards…'_ she thought almost hatefully.

If she wanted to make it through everything, she needed to have some shred of hope that she could.

"Now that your friends will leave you alone for the time being, how about you and I have an Uchiha to Uchiha chat?" Itachi questioned, turning to lead the way through the tunnels, "Things will work better when we get rid of that hateful look in your eyes."

Not waiting for Kisame to push her forward, Suzu walked after him and watched the floor as she went.

"I have no desire to hear what you have to say," she stated icily, her fists clenching.

Anything he had to say to her was most likely nothing but lies. How could she ever believe anything the murderer of her family had to say?

"Then perhaps you would prefer to witness it instead?" he asked, turning his cold gaze onto her.

She looked up at him with her own cold gaze before Kisame's hands were on each of her shoulders. Every muscle in her body tensed with his touch; her eyes widening.

"Itachi is good at using Genjutsu on people," the shark almost whispered into her ear, "Do you want to experience something like that for yourself?"

"You will learn the truth one way or another, Suzu," Itachi said matter-of-factly, "You will come to understand many things in your time with us. Perhaps when the time comes, you will no longer wish to return home to your friends."

Kisame pushed her forward before they kept walking and she could feel her heart tightening within her chest. She had no reason to not want to return to the sides of her friends.

'_He's just trying to make you doubt them,'_ the ice haired girl tried to convince herself.

She would return home no matter how much pain it caused herself. She could only hope that her friends would decide to forgive her when the time came.

_**End of Chapter**_


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